Major 1 Stumps SA’s Motsoaledi Over Permanet Residedence Permit Revoke

By: Bester Kayaye

As twist of events continues unfolding following the flee of Prophet Shepherd Bushiri and his wife from South Africa to Malawi, Major 1 has hit at SA’s minister of Home Affairs Dr. Aaron Motsoaledi for revoking their permanent resident permit.

On Tuesday  November 17,2020 Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, told Portfolio Committee in Parliament that the Permanent Residence permits entrusted to the couple are irregular and they each have 5 passports in their names hence their dwelling in the Rainbow Nation is unlawful.

However in a statement issued on Wednesday, Bushiri described the minister’s motion as unfortunate as during the briefing, the Minister went into the merits of their pending criminal trial as well as the existing internal processes within his ministry in which he is the appeals authority.

He said; “Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, addressed the Portfolio Committee in Parliament that oversees and holds the Minister to account on issues relating to his ministry, amongst others, immigration. In his preliminary report, the Minister took the Committee through the process that his department employs to keep track of movement of the people entering and leaving of South Africa.”

“During the briefing the minister also went into the process that is followed within his department when permits are issued and I acknowledge this is one of the processes that my wife and I should follow during the process that has been interdicted by the High Court in South Africa, which the Minister also indicated that he was disappointed when our rights were protected by the Court-”

Bushiri added that the Minister also state the couple’s Permanent Residence permits are irregular and therefore their stay in South Africa is unlawful because they are  misrepresented facts to induce his department to issue the permits and his department issued incorrect permits to the couple due to their oversight.

He therefore expressed dismayed over the allegations citing it is amongst the agendas he feared would befall them if they had prolonged their stay in South Africa saying the whole  internal process is already prejudged by the Minister before submitting his representations on why their permits should not be revoked.

On passports, Bushiri confirmed of possessing 5 passports each of which one is a diplomatic passport and one is a normal passport, and they submit these to the investigating officer in South Africa while the other three are international visas which are however full.

He said; “The Minister went on to state that my wife and I hold five different passports each. The impression is that these are passports with different names and details. Once again, this issue is before the High Court in South Africa, this statement also strengthens my fear of not getting fair trial in South Africa”

“For the record, my wife and have 5 passports each, one of which is a diplomatic passport and one is a normal passport. We submitted all these passports to the Investigating Officer in South Africa.”

Bushiri said; “There is nothing sinister about that even the Immigration Department in Malawi has attested to that because we are frequent travelers due to the work of our ministry, the other passports are full, however, they have international visas and hence we kept them.”

He reiterates that he came to Malawi not to seek political intervention but to seek justice before the Constitution of the Republic of Malawi.

“I have strong belief in the Constitution of Malawi because it protects its every citizen including my wife and I, because of that, I will be presenting myself before law enforcement agencies”

Earlier prophet Shepherd Bushiri and his wife Mary handed themselves to Area 30 police in Lilongwe

In a statement, National police spokesperson James Kadadzera explained that police officers launched a manhunt of the two following a warrant of arrest issued by Interpol in Pretoria on Monday this week .

Meanwhile,  Khumbo  Soko who is one of  the lawyers for Bushiri has told one of the local publications that the police have currently detained the couple.

The Bushiris are facing fraud and money laundering charges amounting to over R100 million and will face additional charges after contravening strict bail conditions after he was held in police custody by South Africa law enforcement