- Shepherd Bushiri says his conscience is clear after the issuing of three warrants of arrest for different rape cases.
- Bushiri, who fled the country to Malawi a week ago, claimed the warrants are part of the process to "persecute" him.
- The warrants relate to two different cases reported in 2018 and a third in 2020.
Self-proclaimed prophet and fugitive, Shepherd Bushiri, says news that three warrants of arrest have been issued against him are not shocking or surprising.
In a statement shared on his Facebook page, which his spokesperson Ephraim Nyondo also confirmed to News24, Bushiri said the warrants were part of a "larger crusade to try and persecute my name in the media by a team of white police officers, notably from the Hawks".
News24 reported earlier the three warrants for different rape cases were issued on 19 November by the Pretoria Magistrate's Court. They relate to two different cases, allegedly registered in 2018, and another in 2020.
The leader of the Enlightened Christian Gathering Church said he had opened an extortion and corruption case against the officers, who allegedly tried to extort R10 million from him.
He said nothing has happened to the police officers and they have now embarked on issuing warrants of arrest against him. "For the record, I reiterate and confirm that the very same police officers are same police officers who arrested me in Feb 2019 (sic). As it is not enough, they are again same police officers who arrested me in October 2020, and, again, without any official confirmation, I bet it's the same police officers.
Advice
"I have been advised — which advice I accept — that rape cases are not handled by the Hawks, but South African Police (SAPS) designated unit known as Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences."
Bushiri maintained that, unless the said officers were recused from cases involving him, he did not believe he would get a fair trial in South Africa because they were driven by vengeance and not justice.
"That is why these fresh warrants of arrest are neither a shock nor a surprise because they only confirm every detail I shared with regard to spates of injustice I left in South Africa.
"But, above all, as a revered man of God, a husband and father who understands that rape is an abominable crime that goes against everything that I stand and believe in.
"As keen as I am to clear my name, I unequivocally refuse to feed the media spectacle created by white police officers bent to cover up their crimes. My conscience is very clear and so it shall remain," Bushiri said.