By Thobile Jiwulane
In yet another installment in the ongoing spat between Umkhonto Wesizwe Party (MKP) and its secretary-general Floyd Shivambu, the party has distanced itself from his recent visit to the Enlightened Christian Gathering (ECG) and its leader and self-proclaimed Prophet Shepherd Bushiri in Malawi.
Bushiri is a fugitive from justice in South Africa after him and his wife were arrested in October 2020 and faced multiply charges including rape, fraud, money laundering, violating exchange control regulations and contravening bail conditions, among others. The police were also investigating tax evasion after he allegedly transported caches of money in cash using his private airplane to Malawi after every church service.
The couple fled the country in November 2020 while on bail. South Africa successfully applied for their extradition from Malawi to the country but Bushiri and his wife, Mary, appealed the extradition. Minister of Justice Mmamoloko Kubayi vowed that her department is not going to give up on Bushiri extradition until he comes to South Africa to face the full might of the law.
Shivambu’s visit to Bushiri’s church was controversial due to the prophet’s status as a fugitive from South African justice. Some say as a politician, Shivambu should not hop-nob with fugitives but he should work to ensure the suspected criminal is brought to justice.
Shivambu was warmly welcomed as a VIP at the ECG where Bushiri personally introduced him to the gathering and praised him as one of “great and wonderful men” and who “loves South Africa and supports African affairs, religion and more especially he loves God”.
Bushiri said Shivambu and himself had a wonderful conversation on different affairs and different things. “We have people who believe if you are a white person, you are an investor, and if you are a black person, you are corrupt. A man like Floyd believes in supporting Africans, encouraging people who are doing well, supporting them. I am so happy to have a wonderful man like him in South Africa and in Africa,” Bushiri said.
Later, Shivambu posted a reply to his welcome on his X (formerly Twitter) account thanking “my brother Prophet Bushiri for hosting us and for kind words”. He further praised the infamous prophet for the “government scale of work you do to economically, educationally, socially and spiritually uplift our people is unparalleled now and in history”.
The leadership and people of Malawi appreciate and cherish the so many massive programmes you do for the people on the ground. “Continue doing the good work. The Book says, ‘kindness to the poor is a loan to the Lord and He will repay the lender’. God Bless,” Shivambu said.
In a statement, MKP distanced itself from Shivambu’s visit to Bushiri’s church saying the visit was not sanctioned, endorsed or initiated by the party leadership or any official structure of MKP. It said the SG undertook the visit in his personal capacity and without the mandate or knowledge of the party. “The “Umkhonto Wesizwe Party upholds the rule of law and maintains a zero-tolerance stance on criminality in all its forms”, the party said, citing Zuma’s own incarceration saying he did not flee from justice but he was incarcerated and served his time even though it was a miscarriage of justice and violation of his human rights. Furthermore, the MK Party strongly condemns all forms of gender-based violence and the exploitation of vulnerable communities, especially innocent Christian believers by individuals who manipulate faith for personal enrichment or to evade justice. Our party stands with the victims of such exploitation and will never align itself with those who use religion as a shield to defraud, abuse or mislead the public.
“We reiterate our commitment to ethical leadership and the principles of justice and we call on all members and representatives of the MK party to act in a manner that reflects the highest standard of responsibility and accountability,” MKP said.
The MKP’s clear criticism of Shivambu’s visit came in the midst of an ongoing feud between supporters of Shivambu and those of his arch-rival, Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla. The two do not see eye to eye and Zuma had to intervene at some point to calm them down and forced Duduzile to apologise to Shivambu for insulting him.
Many members had been calling on Shivambu to resign from the party, accusing him of ill-treating members, including allegations that he cut their salaries and altered their conditions of employment unilaterally. At least two staff members threatened to take Shivambu to court in connection with their alleged salary cuts and changes of employment conditions. – @NewsSA_Online
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