Pretoria – The Enlightened Christian Gathering (ECG) church national office has urged its members to refrain from making crude statements on social media or taking interviews regarding the case against their “spiritual parents”.
Pastor Sam Dulungana from the ECG Church, led by the self-proclaimed prophet, Shepherd Bushiri, was speaking outside of the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court ahead of the bail application today.
The accused, including Bushiri, his wife Mary and Landiwe Sindani, will be appearing together for the first time since their respective arrests.
Dulungana thanked the members for their unwavering support for the prophet and asked that even though everyone wanted to show their support they should not make statements on behalf of the church – especially making posts on social media that may be construed as inciting violence.
He said they had an opportunity to speak with the Bushiris ahead of their court appearance and had sent their thanks and remained in high spirits.
Members of the ECG church continued to pray, sing and chant struggle songs outside court in support of Shepherd Bushiri, wife @psbushiri @IOL #Bushiris pic.twitter.com/bPgHX4SF8l
— Pretoria News (@pretorianews) October 26, 2020
The church leaders also requested members continued to demonstrate peacefully while also ensuring they adhered to the safety regulations of keeping their masks on at all times but also ensuring physical distancing.
All five had been arrested for their alleged involvement in fraud and money laundering totalling R102 million.
The couple were arrested on October 17 and Bushiri, his wife, and Sindani were arrested three days later.
Members of the church continued to pray, sing and chant Struggle songs outside court; with a large contingency of the church’s security team trying to ensure members did not disrupt other members of the public trying to access the courthouse.
Pretoria News