Parties to the extradition case involving Prophet Shepherd Bushiri of Enlightened Christian Gathering and his wife Mary are set to make their written submissions following the conclusion of parading of witnesses.
When the court reconvened yesterday, the State wound up the re-examination of its sole witness, Sibongile Mzinyathi who is director of public prosecutions (DPP) in Gauteng Province, South Africa.
DPP chambers director of criminal litigation Dzikondianthu Malunda told the court that the end of Mzinyathi’s re-examination also marks the conclusion of the State’s case.
He said the State and defence had also agreed that the defence should file written submissions by August 19 2024 while the State will do so by September 13 2024.
The two parties further agreed that in case of a need for the defence to respond after the submissions by the State, such will be done by September 19 and the court will decide on the date of ruling.
Said Malunda: “Like we stated earlier, we only have one witness. So, this marks the end of our case. Defence has informed us that they do not intend to call any witnesses.”
But Bushiris’ lawyer Wapona Kita and Malunda disagreed on what should happen after the ruling by the court and whether the parties should also make oral submissions.
Malunda said the defence will not bring any witnesses and that there will be no oral submissions while Kita said the State should not make decisions on behalf of the defence.
Kita said the defence will decide on the issue of defence witnesses, depending on how the ruling goes.
Lilongwe chief resident magistrate Madalitso Chimwaza endorsed the dates, adding that the court will make its ruling after 60 days from September 19 2024.
She said there will be no oral submissions and she hoped that the parties will do a good job in the written submissions.
“I have also considered the issue of costs. To minimise costs, there is no need to sit for oral submissions,” said Chimwaza.
The Bushiris are accused of jumping bail in South Africa in November 2020 and are wanted back over alleged financial crimes and rape.
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