self-proclaimed prophet Shepherd Bushiri has alleged that South Africa’s Hawks attempted to solicit a bribe to make his fraud case vanish. Bushiri claims a Hawks officer, Captain Paul, approached his team, hinting that General Sibaya could halt the case for “something” in return.
Bushiri made the claim in a public statement, saying, “We were also visited by one of the police officers know as Captain Paul, who said that the general of the Hawks would stop our case if we would give him something.” He implied this was an attempt to extort money to derail the investigation.
“We were also visited by one of the police officers know as Captain Paul, who said that the general of the Hawks would stop our case if we would give him something, I remember some of my team members going to have a Meeting with General Sibaya” Shepherd Bushiri
— News Live SA (@newslivesa) November 1, 2025
Malawi High Court… pic.twitter.com/6iuNQhOQUn
According to Bushiri, his team later involved the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) to expose the alleged extortion through a sting operation. “We reported the matter to IPID, and they planned to catch them red-handed. But the operation failed because someone at the NPA warned them in advance,” he claimed.
He alleged that after the failed sting, the same officers who were supposed to be investigated came to arrest him. “The next morning, the very people who had taken the money came and arrested me and my wife,” Bushiri said. “Instead of arresting the corrupt officers, they made us the criminals.”Bushiri said the entire case was politically and financially motivated, claiming that corruption within the police and prosecuting authority made justice impossible. “I still believe in justice, but it cannot exist where corruption leads the system,” he said.
Bushiri, founder of the Enlightened Christian Gathering (ECG) church, and his wife Mary fled to Malawi in 2020 after being granted bail in South Africa on charges of fraud, money laundering, and theft exceeding R100 million. The Malawi High Court recently blocked their extradition, overturning a lower court’s ruling
Bushiri’s supporters see the alleged solicitation as persecution, while critics view it as a deflection tactic. Hawks spokesperson Brigadier Thandi Mbambo previously dismissed similar claims as baseless, but no official response has been issued yet.
