We are outside the PTA Magistrate court where self-proclaimed Prophet #Bushiri, his wife mary and three others will find out if they will be granted bail.

#Bushiri Some of banners in support of the Bushiri's

#Bushiri ECG members have applied to picket on Francis Baard street in front of the court.

#Bushiri We have moved to a different courtroom today. The security is not as tight as the previous court appearances.

#Bushiri We have not started. I overheard the lawyer for the Bushiri's Annalien Van den Heever asking court personnel to tell the Magistrate that they are ready to proceed. That was 10 minutes ago

#Bushiri The magistrate is here, but she is requesting the police officers to make sure there is social distancing because the court is full.

#Bushiri People have been removed from the court. The magistrate says they can stream the court proceedings live. Only a few family members, the media, lawyers and the police are allowed inside.

#Bushiri, his wife Mary and Landiwe Ntlokwana enter the courtroom.

Accused 1 and 2, Willah and Zethu Mudolo have also arrived. We have are not allowed to show their images.

#Bushiri The magistrate has been informed that Mabuza attorneys are no longer representing accused number 1 Willah Mudolo, his lawyer says they are not ready to apply as they received instructions to represent him overnight.

#Bushiri The state starts its response to the bail application by the Bushiri's, Ntlokwana and Zethu Mudolo. We are not allowed to name the prosecutor

#Bushiri The prosecutor told the magistrate that Mathopo attorneys, one of them is representing the Bushiri's was given the power of attorneys for a similar investment scheme linked to ECG which may cause conflict of interested, however the defence says this is not the case

#Bushiri The magistrate has accepted that it will not cause a conflict of interest. We now proceed with the states response to the bail application.

#Bushiri The prosecutor is reading the affidavit of the investigating officer.

#Bushiri The IO says the accused are facing charges of theft, money laundering and fraud. The accused allegedly invited members of the ECG church to invest monies into "Prophet Bushiri investments" and they were promised a 50% return in 2 months.

#Bushiri The IO says members were told to give their monies cash to agents in the church or deposit it in cash. R106 million was deposited into Rising Estate (Company owned by accused 1 and 2 the Mudolos) bank account.

#Bushiri The IO alleges the monies were then deposited into the Prophetic channel bank account and used to allegedly fund a lavish lifestyle including the purchase of a Rolls Royce worth R8 million.

#Bushiri The IO believes the accused are at flight risk, he says if granted bail it may be difficult to re-arrest them. The IO further states that accused 1, Willah Mudolo has tried to skip the country on three occasions.

#Bushiri The has further stated that the last attempt by accused number one to skip the country was on the 17th of October 2020 when he was arrested at OR Tambo.

#Bushiri JUST IN: The state also alleges that Bushiri's legal representatives have intimidated state witnesses, the IO says the state witnesses we paid up to R500k from Bushiri's bank account "Prophet Bushiri Ministries"

#Bushiri The state also points out that the rape case against Bushiri was also withdrawn. The IO says there has been a pattern of this.

#Bushiri Earlier when they entered the courtroom

#Bushiri The state now goes through the accused addresses and properties.

#Bushiri The state says Bushiri and his wife statements are in contradiction. Mary told the court they live in a normal family setting and are young. The state says the children live and attend school in Malawi. The states says one of the children visit SA and are still here

#Bushiri The state says the Bushiri's have family members in South Africa however there is evidence that some of them got their visas fraudulently.

#Bushiri The state says accused 1, Willah Mudolo has a property in Zambia, Rwanda (This apartment is up for sale) and in Sandton. She now goes through his other assests including luxury vehicles.

#Bushiri The state mentions properties allegedly owned by Bushiri valued at billions of rands. The prosecutor mentions that some of the information comes from media articles.

#Bushiri The state says Bushiri does not have any vehicles in his name however his luxury vehicles are in the name of the prophetic channel. The state says there is evidence that the channel cannot afford this vehicles. The prosecutor says the vehicles are not financed

#Bushiri The state says it believes two vehicles, a Bentley and a Maserati and others where illegally taken to Malawi.

This includes this Maserati he is said to have bought for his daughter.

#Bushiri The state says the Bushiri's own various personal and business bank accounts. The state alleges that they use these bank account to fund eacher so that they seem like they are running a legitimate business whereas there is evidence of money laundering.

#Bushiri The state says Bushiri handed over several passports to the state.

#Bushiri The state says Bushiri and his Wife Mary travelled to and from South Africa, five times a month through Lanseria AiRport with different passports. The state says Mary Bushiri admitted to lying and sayings he was a diplomat to pas through customs.