PRETORIA – Six remaining accused in the high-profile R102 million fraud and money-laundering case centred on Malawian couple Shepherd and Mary Bushiri will stand trial separately starting on 4 May in the Pretoria High Court. Kaizer Kganyago, national spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), confirmed the trial date in a statement issued yesterday – Thursday, 30 April. He said the latest development in this case followed the Pretoria High Court decision on 2 April, to dismiss an application brought by accused Willah Joseph Mudolo, his wife Zethu Mudolo and their company Rising Estate (Pty) Ltd to prevent the NPA from charging them with racketeering. The decision paved the way for the trial.
Kganyago said the Pretoria High Court found no merit in the application which attempted to prevent the NPA from charging the applicants with racketeering. “This application formed part of a broader and ultimately unsuccessful effort to interfere with the prosecution, including attempts to remove the prosecutors from the case,” he said.
Kganyago said Justice Mokhine Joseph Mosopa had found, on 16 January 2025, that the three accused had caused undue delays in bringing the matter to trial.
“Mudolo’s efforts to delay the proceedings included a review application against the authorisation to charge the accused with racketeering charges (contravention of section 2 of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act). They also asked the court to review and set aside their arrest, as well as the decision by former National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP), Advocate Shamila Batohi, to issue a racketeering certificate, among others. In an attempt to interfere with the prosecution, Mudolo and his wife instituted motion proceedings to remove the team of prosecutors assigned to the case,” Kganyago explained.
He added that the Legal Practice Council dismissed the couple’s complaint against the prosecutors on 17 July 2025.
Kganyago said Justice Ismail, who presided over both the review application and the motion proceedings, dismissed the scathing and at times defamatory allegations against the prosecutors. “Justice Ismail found that there was no impropriety on the part of the prosecutors. The evidence of Mudolo and his wife did not support the perception or belief that the prosecutors acted improperly and that their conduct was wilful in disregarding a court order. The court further found that the criminal charges Mudolo laid against the prosecutors were a desperate attempt to stop the prosecutors from prosecuting the matter against him. Moreover, the judge emphasised that ‘a prosecutor cannot simply be replaced willy-nilly because an accused person is not satisfied with him or her prosecuting a matter,’” Kganyago explained. He said the judge dismissed both the review application and motion proceedings with costs.
Kganyago said the six accused, who include Mudolos and their company are facing multiple charges, including racketeering, money laundering, and fraud. The other individuals include Landiwe Ntlokwana, also known as Sindani, Namalarvasagie Reddy, Sateesh Isseri, and Stephanie Olivier. The Bushiris, leaders of the Enlightened Christian Gathering (ECG) church, were among the accused before they fled South Africa.
