- Willah Mudolo is one of Shepherd Bushiri's co-accused in a R102-million fraud, money laundering, and theft case.
- The Pretoria Magistrate's Court has granted him bail of R250 000 following a bail application based on new facts.
- He was previously denied bail as he was considered a flight risk.
Willah Mudolo, a co-accused in the R102-million fraud case of self-proclaimed prophet Shepherd Bushiri, has been granted bail of R250 000.
The Zambian national last Thursday appeared in the Pretoria Magistrate's Court, which found in favour of his bail application based on new facts.
In the first bail application in December 2020, Magistrate Thandi Theledi found that Mudolo was a flight risk, having attempted to flee the country three times before his arrest.
The court did not accept his defence that he was on a business trip.
Theledi also accepted the evidence of a home affairs official who testified that he was not in the country legally because his visitor's visa had expired.
The court found that access to large sums of money meant it was possible for Mudolo to flee and added that it would be difficult to extradite him.
In his new application, launched in May this year, Mudolo argued that he only had one valid passport and that other passports linked to him contained the incorrect dates of birth. In an affidavit, he told the court that he corrected the error in 2018.
However, despite applying for the correction, the State said that Mudolo had still chosen to use the passport to travel and register a company.
Mudolo claimed that these new facts supported his release on bail:
His health had deteriorated in prison.
The life of his family had deteriorated because he could not provide for them financially.
The people he employs depend on him.
He cannot generate an income while in custody.
Bail judgment and conditions
According to National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Sipho Ngwenya, the court accepted the following as new facts:
Mudolo's mother is ill.
His health is failing in prison.
His businesses might fail because he is imprisoned.
His claims that the State does not have a strong case against him.
The State had unsuccessfully argued that Mudolo had failed to produce any proof of the facts accepted by the court.
Theledi set Mudolo's bail at R250 000 and attached several strict bail conditions.
These conditions included that Mudolo was not allowed to leave Gauteng and may under no circumstances travel outside the borders of South Africa until the trial has been concluded.
Mudolo was also barred from applying for any travel documents and will have to report to a police station close to his home on Mondays and Fridays.
In addition, the court ordered that Mudolo hand over the title deed to his house, worth R25 million, to the asset forfeiture unit within the NPA.
Bushiri, his wife, Mary, Mudolo and his wife Zethu, as well as Landiwe Ntlokwana face charges of fraud, theft, and money laundering in relation to an alleged scam in which investors were allegedly defrauded out of R102 million.
Bushiri and his wife were released on bail in the same court in November, and soon after, they returned to their homeland of Malawi. They are currently facing an extradition hearing to have them brought back to South Africa.