South African government witness in the Bushiris extradition case briefly took to the witness box late afternoon noon on Monday following his delayed flight connections to Malawi.
The witness, Sibongire Mzinyathi, who is Gauteng Province Director of Public Prosecutions arrived at the Chief Resident Magistrate’s court in Lilongwe around 4: 30 pm and immediately went into the witness box.
The Bushiris at court: All smiles and giggles
He explained that he delayed in Nairobi, Kenya where he was connecting to Malawi from South Africa.
State Advocate Dzikondianthu Malunda immediately has sought a case adjournment, proposing either the last week of February or the first week of March next year.
In response, Wapona Kita, the lawyer for the Bushiris, commented that avoiding such an adjournment would have been possible if the South African government had chosen a direct flight from South Africa to Malawi.
The ruling on the adjournment will be made on Tuesday, December 12, 2023 at 9:00 am.
Witness: Prosecutor Sibongire Mzinyathi
The State sought for the adjournment saying it wanted to consult fully with the witnesses.
In the case, the South African Government wants the Malawi Government to extradite Prophet Shepherd Bushiri and his wife, Mary to answer money laundering, theft and fraud charges.
In the morning, the State informed the court that the witness was not available because he supposedly missed his connecting flight in Kenya and requested the court to adjourn the matter to March next year.
But defence lawyer Wapona Kita objected to the adjournment saying the witness is scheduled to arrive in the country today.
In October this year, the court fined the State K560,000 as costs of proceedings after it sought an adjournment to prepare and submit documents.
