A senior official of one of the largest political parties in South Africa was sentenced to having visited an self -proclaimed pastor who fled to Malawi after being accused of rape and fraud.
Floyd Shivambu, secretary general of the Umkhonto Wesizwe (MK) party of former president Jacob Zuma, Retweeted images on x of him attending an Easter service at the church of Shepherd Bushiri.
Mr. Bushii, from Malawi, was one of the best known preachers in southern Africa when he was arrested and accused of fraud in 2020.
After being released on bail, he managed to flee to his country of origin in clear circumstances. South Africa has been trying to extradite it since.
Last month, a Malawi court supported the extradition request, but Mr. Bushi and his wife Mary, who faced accusations of fraud, appealed.
Mr. Bushiri is a millionaire who has installed churches in several African countries.
He is accused of attacking the poor who desperately wanted to improve their lives by selling goods, including “Miracle Oil”.
The self -proclaimed Prophet claims to have healed HIV people, made the blind, changed the fortune of the impoverished and, at least one opportunity, walked in the air.
Mr. Bushi was also accused of rape. He and his wife denied any reprehensible act.
The Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development of South Africa, MMAMOLOKO Kubayi, said that the Shivambu association with Mr. Bushiri was “an act of blatant respect towards the legal system of South Africa”.
She added that it would “embrace those who believe they can escape responsibility”.
Shivambu’s own MK party also published a statement to distance himself from his visit, saying that he had undertaken him “in his personal title and without mandate or knowledge of the party”.
The party added that it “condemns all forms of violence based on the gender and exploitation of vulnerable communities, in particular innocent Christian believers, by people who manipulate faith for personal enrichment or to escape justice”.
In an article on X on Saturday, Shivambu congratulated Mr. Bushiri for his “good job”.
“Thank you my brother, the prophet Bushi for welcoming us and for the kind words,” he wrote.
“The government’s scale of the working scale that you are making the economically, educational, social and spiritual increase in our people is unprecedented now and in history.
“I know that leadership and the inhabitants of Malawi appreciate and cherish the massive programs that you do for people on the ground.”
He republished images shared by Mr. Bushiri who showed that the self-proclaimed pastor asks the hundreds of faithful from his church in Jesus Nation to welcome the South African politician.
Under the leadership of former President Zuma, the new MK party was third in last year’s elections – a major factor in the Government of the ANC in the power to lose its majority for the first time since the democratic elections were introduced in 1994.
Shivambu joined the party in August of last year of rival fighters of economic freedom (EFF) and was then appointed secretary general – one of the main posts of the party.