Self-proclaimed prophet Shepherd Bushiri has revealed why he met former MK Party secretary-general Floyd Shivambu during the latter’s controversial visit to Malawi earlier this year.
The meeting later sparked disciplinary action against Shivambu within the MK Party.
Bushiri: ‘The trip was not about me’
Speaking in an exclusive interview with eNCA, Bushiri said Shivambu’s trip ‘was not about me’ and explained that the politician was already in the country for other engagements before deciding to attend a church service.
Shivambu faced internal disciplinary action after the Jacob Zuma-led MK Party accused him of travelling to Malawi without authorisation.
Bushiri said Shivambu had meetings with former president Joyce Banda and other political figures and later chose to attend a Sunday service at his church.
“He did not come here specifically for me,” Bushiri said. “He had other business which he was doing here. Then he said let me go and attend a service on a Sunday. That was it, and we prayed with him. His mother is one of my leaders in the church in South Africa.”
He also confirmed that he is in touch with a lot of politicians.
“I am a man of the people, I love people, and they love me. These people do not look at me from a religious background; they look at me as a fellow African, they look at me as a human being. I might be a self-proclaimed (prophet) to other people, but to other people I am a brother, a cousin, an uncle,”
Church still expanding despite legal troubles
Bushiri, who leads the Jesus Nation Church (formerly the Enlightened Christian Gathering), claims his church has grown to more than two million registered members in South Africa and expanded significantly after he fled the country in 2020 while out on bail.
Bushiri and his wife Mary fled South Africa in November 2020, just days after a court granted them bail on fraud and money-laundering charges worth R102 million.
Their escape immediately triggered diplomatic tensions between Pretoria and Lilongwe, as South Africa moved to have the couple extradited. That process has since stopped following a recent court ruling in Malawi.