Footage of Bushiris’ escape and money-laundering allegations — DA wants real answers

The DA has called on home affairs minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi to again account to parliament over the escape of fugitives from justice Shepherd and Mary Bushiri after failing to provide “real” answers during his previous appearance.

The party's Angel Khanyile, shadow minister of home affairs, made the call on Sunday after allegations of a massive money-laundering scheme.

The couple performed more than 20,000 banking transactions from their business and personal accounts in one month in an apparent effort to move their assets out of the country, City Press reported on Sunday.

This as the couple fled the country to their home in Malawi less than a week after their release on bail.

The party said  it had written to the chairperson of the parliamentary home affairs committee, Adv Bongani Bongo, to request a joint meeting with the portfolio committees on home affairs, international relations, justice and police to allow the respective departments to provide feedback on the progress the government has made to have the couple extradited.

“The key government departments involved in extradition and given the haphazard manner in which they have previously dealt with this case — whether it’s the Bushiris’ immigration status or the enforcement of their bail condition — no stone can be left unturned to ensure that due processes are being followed,” the party said.

The government has confirmed that extradition proceedings have been initiated against the Bushiris after skipping the country undetected.

“It is important that the relevant departments brief parliament in order to satisfy the public that the process is progressing smoothly,” said the DA.  

The party said it had also requested that Motsoaledi  provide the committee with the CCTV footage from the Waterkloof Air Force Base of the hours leading up to the Bushiris’ disappearance from SA soil.  

“We believe this will play an important part of the investigation.”

Motsoaledi during his first appearance before the committee last week revealed that the couple had several passports and blamed the country's porous borders.

“I must emphasise that Mr Bushiri has five passports. None of them are South African. They were all issued in Malawi. We've got their passport numbers. Mrs Bushiri also has five passports ...

“It is common cause that we are suffering from porous borders in this country. We believe people who are a flight risk can go through any of our porous borders,” he said.

 The DA said his explanation was not adequate.

“The minister failed to shed any real light over the events related to the Bushiri escape. Hopefully he will be able to provide real answers if he has another opportunity to appear,” added Khanyile.

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