ZAMBIAN WINS BAIL
Bushiri co-accused released on K394, 000 bail after initially being labelled a flight risk
JOHANNESBURG – A Zambian, Willah Mudolo, who is a co-accused in the R102-million fraud case of self-proclaimed prophet Shepherd Bushiri, has been granted bail of R250 000 (K394, 000).
The Zambian national last Thursday appeared in the Pretoria Magistrate's Court, which found in favour of his bail application based on new facts.
In the first bail application in December 2020, Magistrate Thandi Theledi found that Mudolo was a flight risk, having attempted to flee the country three times before his arrest.
The court did not accept his defence that he was on a business trip.
Theledi also accepted the evidence of a home affairs official who testified that he was not in the country legally because his visitor's visa had expired.
The court found that access to large sums of money meant it was possible for Mudolo to flee and added that it would be difficult to extradite him.
In his new application, launched in May this year, Mudolo argued that he only had one valid passport and that other passports linked to him contained the incorrect dates of birth. In an affidavit, he told the court that he corrected the error in 2018.
Mudolo claimed that these new facts supported his release on bail that his health had deteriorated in prison as well as the life of his family because he could not provide for them financially.
The people he employs depend on him and he cannot generate an income while in custody.
According to National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Sipho Ngwenya, the court accepted the following as new facts that Mudolo's mother is ill.
His health is failing in prison; his businesses might fail because he is imprisoned.
Theledi set Mudolo's bail at R250 000 and attached several
strict bail conditions.
These conditions included that Mudolo was not allowed to leave Gauteng and may under no circumstances travel outside the borders of South Africa until the trial has been concluded.
Mudolo was also barred from applying for any travel documents and will have to report to a police station close to his home on Mondays and Fridays.
In addition, the court ordered that Mudolo hand over the title deed to his house, worth R25 million, to the asset forfeiture unit within the NPA.