The South African government has said it is waiting for the courts in Malawi to make a decision on extraditing leader and founder of the Enlightened Christian Gathering (ECG) Church Shepherd Bushiri and his wife, Mary.

In October, 2020 authorities in the Rainbow Nation arrested Bushiri and his wife for fraud and money laundering. According to reports, the couple duped the South African government money amounting to over R100 million.

But the couple has been denying the allegations.

In November the same year, Bushiri and his wife fled South Africa few days after the Pretoria Magistrate Court granted them bail and had their travelling documents confiscated by the South African Authorities.

The South African government has been asking Malawi to extradite the couple to answer the charges levelled against them but Bushiri and his wife want their case to be handled in Malawi, according to him, he will not be able to have a fair trial in South Africa.

On the same Bushiri has prayed to court to have South African witness to come to Malawi to testify, but the court is yet to decide.

According to South Africa’s Minister of Justice and Correctional Services Ronald Lamola, there is mutual cooperation between the two countries on the matter and that the extradition process is underway.

“His official name that we have is Mr Shipililu Gama, well known as Shepherd Bushiri. Our papers are compliant, it’s in order. The matters are being ventilated in the courts of Malawi, that is where the matter is now, and we are awaiting the outcomes. I think it’s the 5th of August, that’s where we are on that matter. Whether there is mutual cooperation between the two sovereign states, South Africa and Malawi, yes there is,” says Lamola.