A legal South African team is in the country to participate in the extradition case of Prophet Shepherd Bushiri and his wife, Mary which starts on May 30, 2023.
This follows Malawi Court decision that RSA witnesses be physically in court on the matter.
The delegation is led by officials from the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development.
The officials include senior and experienced prosecutors from the National Prosecuting Authority(NPA), the Investigative Directorate and investigators from South African Police Service.
According to a statement issued by South Africa’s Ministry of Justice and Correctional Services, the Department of Justice is leading the group in fulfilling its role as a central authority which has the responsibility of receiving, managing and executing extradition requests.
The statement, signed by spokesperson for the ministry, Chrispin Phiri reads in part: “On the 13th of February 2023, the Malawi High Court in its judgment indicated that section 6 of the Extradition Act of Malawi clarified that the witnesses or relevant witnesses to a preliminary inquiry/extradition hearing are those witnesses who will be able to answer and convince the Court conducting the inquiry on section 6 of the Malawi Extradition Act.”
The Bushiris are answering criminal charges in South Africa where they fled in November 2020 while on bail, and South African authorities are seeking their extradition to face trial.
While in Malawi, Prophet Bushiri has been in different development projects including Goshen City.