*Self-styled prophet Shepherd’s ‘lover’ helped him and his wife reach the Beit bridge border*

Self-proclaimed Malawian prophet Shepherd Bushiri allegedly fled South Africa through Zimbabwe with the assistance of his 27-year-old “lover”.

This is according to a Limpopo-based former member of Bushiri’s Enlightened Christian Gathering Church, who says the woman – who had borrowed his own car – allowed Bushiri and his wife to use it to travel to the Beitbridge border post in Musina on November 10.

The man told City Press this week that he was exposing these details because he was fed up with the church leader’s shenanigans and deceit, particularly his declaration that he was willing to return and stand trial if his safety was guaranteed.

Bushiri, he added, had been coming up with excuses like demanding that the magistrate in Malawi recuse himself and expecting South African witnesses to travel to Malawi, where he and his wife are currently fighting extradition.

The man requested that he and the woman who borrowed his car for the Bushiris not be named until they had met with the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation. The woman, he added, wanted assurance that she would be protected before revealing her identity.

The congregant backed up his claims to City Press about Bushiri’s escape with a sworn statement.

Bushiri’s South Africa-based lawyer, Ntsako Baloyi, insisted that he did not know how the couple had left the country, as they had not informed him.  It was initially suspected that they escaped with the assistance of Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera on November 14 – a matter that threatened diplomatic ties between that country and South Africa. Chakwera had been in South Africa to meet President Cyril Ramaphosa around the time the Bushiris disappeared in the face of mounting fraud and money laundering charges involving R102 million.

They had been released on R200 000 bail each by the Pretoria Central Magistrates’ Court soon before their escape. The couple are standing trial in a court in Malawi’s capital city Lilongwe. They are scheduled to appear again tomorrow. The “prophet” is also facing eight counts of rape dating back to 2016, with some of his alleged victims being as young as 16. She later confided to me that she had helped them escape because she’d been having a sexual relationship with Shepherd Bushiri for almost two years.

Hawks spokesperson Colonel Katlego Mogale declined to comment on whether the Hawks were aware of this version of how the Bushiris escaped, saying only that the matter was still under investigation.

*‘LOVER’ USED HER FRIEND’S VEHICLE*

In his affidavit, the former member of Bushiri’s church alleged that he had lent a white car to Bushiri’s alleged lover when the “prophet” called her and asked for assistance on November 9.

“Bushiri asked the woman if she had a car in good condition for a long-distance trip and told her to ask me to lend her one if she didn’t. She happened to be using my car at that time, as her own had mechanical problems,” he said. Bushiri’s wife, he alleged, was driven by another person to the woman’s apartment in Embassy Towers in Sandhurst, Johannesburg, between 11am and noon on November 10 and they then drove to Carlswald in Midrand, which is where Bushiri was.

From there, the couple set off for the Malawi border post at about 2pm, accompanied by another woman. The Bushiris, he said, were wearing baseball caps to disguise themselves.

He alleged the lover was given strict instructions not to tell anyone about this trip, but to misdirect people by calling all her friends and acquaintances and telling them she had accompanied Mary Bushiri to Sun City, and then leave her cellphone at home to avoid taking their calls. He himself, the man said, had been unaware of what had really happened. “She called me at about 1pm [on November 10] and told me about taking Mom [Mary Bushiri] to Sun City,” he said.

In the affidavit, he said: “When she called me, she sounded as if she was in a hurry and when I tried to call her back 30 minutes later, her phone wasn’t answered.” The congregant alleged he was at his home in Limpopo when the Bushiris skipped the country. “She [later] told me that she only realised there were four vehicles as part of the Bushiri entourage, which drove ahead of them to check for roadblocks and police presence on the road when they arrived in Polokwane. They all booked into a lodge in Musina and, at about 1.30am the next morning, they were called into the Bushiris’ room. That was when the couple bid them goodbye. The Bushiris were then fetched by another car and left for Malawi at about 2am, presumably through Beitbridge,” he said.The woman offered the Bushiris R20 000 in cash.

Zimbabwean police spokesperson, chief superintendent Paul Nyathi, said that the country’s police did not have any information about the Bushiris passing through their borders. By mid-morning on November 11, following the Bushiris’ departure, the lover allegedly used the cellphone of her companion to contact the congregant via the Telegram app to ask for directions to his house in Louis Trichardt.

The same day that the prophet came out of prison, he started losing serious weight and when he was admitted to hospital here in South Africa, they told him he had poison in his blood. That was when she told him the whole story. “When she told me that Mary’s phone had been left at her house, I told her to remove it as soon as possible because anyone could trace it. We went together to her house [in Sandton] and only when I saw Mary’s cellphone did I believe her story,” he said. “She phoned Sylvester [one of Bushiri’s members of protocol] to come and take the phone and she handed it to him. I informed her of the seriousness of her actions in helping the Bushiris to escape,” he said. “She later confided to me that she had helped them escape because she’d been having a sexual relationship with Shepherd Bushiri for almost two years. She confirmed it by showing me a double-breasted suit, a yellow tie, a white shirt and blue Boss underwear that Bushiri had left at her place after spending a night there,” he said. City Press has seen pictures of the clothing, taken by the congregant.

Baloyi said that many theories had been postulated about how the Bushiris escaped South Africa, but this was the first time he had heard that they had passed through the Beitbridge border post. “It’s not known to me how they left, as I deal with them on legal issues – not on how they decide to do things. To date, I can tell you that they’ve shared nothing about how they left with me. I suppose they’re not emotionally ready to do so,” he said. He added that the Bushiris had left because their lives were in danger and they feared persecution and an unfair trial.

“Let me share with you: the same day that the prophet came out of prison, he started losing serious weight and when he was admitted to hospital here in South Africa, they told him he had poison in  is blood. The Bushiris have it on record, and evidence from the prison, that they were poisoned,” said Baloyi.

Good news for South Africans, the days of standing on those long queues and spending hours at Home Affairs will soon be a thing of the past!

Home Affairs Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi said that his Home Affairs department is working on a number of tech-focused features, with plans to take some services digital.

DIGITAL SERVICES TO CURB IDENTITY THEFT

In a recent written parliamentary Q&A, Motsoaledi said that the department will also introduce a number of changes which are aimed at increased identity security for citizens.

“The department has partnered with the Department of Health to ensure that each child is allocated with a birth certificate on the spot, by registering birth at health facilities.

This will curb identity theft from the onset as an ID number gets allocated and remains with the child for life. The primary purpose is to ensure a credible population register, not vulnerable to theft and fraud,” Motsoaledi said.

With ‘live capture’, Motsoaledi said that the department is able to identify applicants through online verification which has a direct interface with the Home Affairs National Identification System (HANIS) to identify persons through biometrics.

Enhanced security features for Smart ID card and passport

Furthermore, during the collection of smart identity cards, online verification is also performed to ensure that the correct enabling document is handed over to the appropriate clients.

According to Business Tech, Motsoaledi said that the South African Smart ID card and passport also have enhanced security features.

“The department is moving away from paper to a paperless environment. The department is thereby progressively phasing out the manual application process.

“In addition, in terms of the Departments of Home Affairs’ Information Security Policy, a model was built around proactive risk assessment and risk management where all users responsible for registering and capturing births and identity-related applications within the domain of the organization, are assigned with biometric fingerprint authentication, to detect and hold users accountable for fraudulent activities,” he said

Motsoaledi also urged everyone who visits Home Affairs offices to observe social distancing, sanitise their hands regularly and to wear their masks properly, covering their noses and mouths. “Nobody will be allowed into our offices if they are not wearing their masks properly,” Motsoaledi said.

SERVICES AT HOME AFFAIRS

Home Affairs announced the resumption of a number of services under South Africa’s level 1 lockdown at the start of March.

This comes after several services were temporarily suspended due to concerns around COVID-19 transmissions.

The following services are now available:

• Births registration;

• Re-issuance of births certificates;

• Late Registration of Birth (LRB) for learners and pensioners only;

• Death registration;

• Applications temporary identity certificate (TIC);

• Collection of identity cards or documents;

• Applications and collection of passports for those who are exempted to travel;

• Applications for identity (Smart ID) cards or documents for matriculants only;

• Re-issues of Smart ID cards and identity documents;

• Registration and solemnization of marriages;

• Amendments and rectifications;

• Late Registration of Birth (LRB) for all categories;

• Applications and collections of passports for all categories.

www.samigration.com

Pandemic-based US visa and entry bans, originally imposed by former American President Donald Trump, have actually become tougher in some respects under Biden.  In the Schengen Area, UK and Ireland it has become more difficult to receive National Interest Exceptions (NIEs) and thereby avoid the long COVID-19 backlog of visa applications. NIEs for travelers from these countries had previously been granted more easily under the Trump administration at US embassies and consulates.  In many cases to gain entry to the US quickly you now need to come under "critical infrastructure needs", which is restricted to a limited number of industries

 

However, changes in US Department of State (DoS) guidance has made it more difficult for business travelers, including senior executives and managers, to enter the US. Under previous guidance, E1 and E2 visa holders, H1B visa holders and L1 visa holders would be seen to offer substantial economic benefits to the US and visa applications would often be approved.

However, the US Embassy in Rome, Italy recently explained that managers or senior executives traveling to observe operations or hold meetings with clients will no longer qualify for a National Interest Exception.

 

Some countries not included 

While applicants from the Schengen region, the UK and Ireland have been blocked from NIEs, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken did not include Brazil or South Africa in the change of policy, despite these two nations having particularly contagious variants of COVID-19.

The abruptly updated policy also doesn’t include China or Iran – countries that the US considers to be adversaries. The DoS announcement also fails to explain why students traveling from the Schengen region, the UK or Ireland with a valid F1 or M1 student visa do not need to contact an embassy or consulate to seek an individual NIE to travel.

According to new guidance, students granted an F1 or M1 visa will ‘automatically be considered for an NIE to travel to the US’.

Meanwhile, there has been no change to the COVID-19 Labor Market and the different and more-easily-attainable NIE standards for H1B, L1 and J1 visa categories.

By rescinding the substantial economic benefit from the NIE criteria, which applied to travelers from the Schengen area, the UK and Ireland, Blinken now requires US consular officers to be satisfied that a visa applicant will provide ‘vital support to critical infrastructure sectors’ as defined by the Department of Homeland Security.

The DHS’ Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) says: “There are 16 critical infrastructure sectors whose assets, systems, and networks, whether physical or virtual, are considered so vital to the US that their incapacitation or destruction would have a debilitating effect on security, national economic security, national public health or safety, or any combination thereof.”

“They include chemical, commercial facilities, communications, critical manufacturing, dams, defense industrial base, emergency services, energy, financial services, food and agriculture, government facilities, healthcare and public health, information technology, nuclear reactors, transportation, and water/wastewater systems,” the CISA added.

 

NIE rules make no sense

Rescinding NIE for citizens of the Schengen area, the UK and Ireland has been described as ‘making no sense’ on many levels, whether it’s on the grounds of public health, foreign policy, economic policy, rule of law or interdepartmental accountability.

To rescind on the basis of public health is baffling considering that student visa holders can enter unobstructed, while people from Brazil and South Africa – where a contagious variant of the coronavirus is known to exist – can also travel to the US.

From a foreign policy point of view, most countries in the Schengen area, the UK and Ireland are considered allies of the US, whereas nations like China and Iran would be considered enemies, yet their citizens are exempt from the new NIE rules.

From an economic standpoint, questions have been raised on why ‘harm to US industries that utilize talent from around the world’ has been used as a basis to remove NIE for some countries, but not others.

Questions have also been raised over why the US State Department is adjudicating and denying applications when its consular officers only have the authority to determine ‘visa ineligibilities’ and not inadmissibility to enter the US.

The use of funds by the DoS has also been questioned, with reports of appropriated funds being used unlawfully.

The DoS is set to review the existing rules before May 3, 2021, at which point some of these questions may be answered.

www.samigration.com

‘We still haven’t figured out a proper way to harness the skills and knowledge of retirees to mentor and build the skills of new labour market entrants,’ says one expert. Here, we look at what retirement means in 2021 in South Africa.

In the 2015 film The Intern, the plot follows a 70-year-old widower, Ben Whittaker, played by Robert De Niro, who realises he is not ready for retirement. In an attempt to “reinvent” himself and re-enter the job market, he takes up a senior intern position at a fast-paced online fashion site run by high-energy millennials.

Although the days of walking out of one nine-to-five job after four decades with a gold watch, and swapping an office chair for a rocking chair, might be over, the reality for those in their twilight years, certainly in South Africa, is far from what Hollywood depicts. 

From forensics to the medical and legal fields, Dr Richard Holmes has been practising as an industrial and clinical psychologist for 37 years and continues to work at 74. “It is very difficult to discuss retirement as a concept in a country like ours where roughly 47% are working-aged people who actually don’t have jobs and might not ever have a steady job,” he says. “So I think it is imperative to note, particularly with the subject of retirement, that there is no one-size-fits-all case.”

Bernie Dolley, an NGO worker for more than 35 years, says: “Retirement in South Africa is a very complex and controversial topic. The more I observe in the line of work that I do, the more I am convinced that there is no such thing as retirement, at least from a South African perspective. If you mention that word [retirement] in the communities I work with, the answer is: ‘Retirement? What do you mean? There is no such thing in our community’.”

In 2000, Dolley founded Ikhala, an NGO that supports about 10 community-based organisations across rural communities in the Eastern Cape. 

“It [retirement] is a very painful topic that no one even wants to talk about because it’s like, what does that actually mean. I’ve got nothing to retire with,” she says.

“There is no such thing as a ‘retirement home’ in the traditional sense of the term in these villages. These villages have what we refer to as ‘service centres’ that primarily are made up of very old people who just cannot afford to be on pension because they are still supporting households on the government pension [of] R1,860 per month. So, it is a very different scenario to what we all initially imagine retirement to be… it’s a big area that requires social justice because it is just completely unequal.”

Rachel Janneman during an interview on December 6, 2012 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Jan Hofmeyr is one of Joburg’s oldest suburbs but the elder people who live there say a lot has changed over the years. Crime and unemployment rates have increased, and more people are using drugs. (Photo by Gallo Images / Foto24 / Nelius Rademan)

Dolley adds that Ikhala brings the elderly together in the service centre and offers them a meal, counselling, arts and crafts or just company. The centre is a “kind of therapy” since it encourages them to get off of their homestead and support their peers who have the same struggles.

Deputy director of the Development Policy Research Unit at the University of Cape Town’s School of Economics, Dr Morné Oosthuizen, says: “Certainly working several jobs over a career seems to be the norm, and changing technology has meant that freelancing has become more common. And freelancing is one of the trends that opens up the possibility of ‘slowing down’ rather than retiring. 

“But I think ‘society’ is probably too broad when one is talking about how we think about retirement. We need to remember that a large proportion of the South African population over 60 is either reliant on some combination of the older persons grant and familial support, or they are reliant on the older persons grant and they need to support other members of their extended family. For this group, ‘retirement’ means something quite different to the idea of ‘middle-class’/‘upper-middle-class’ retirement.

“In terms of the latter, I think there are trends towards more active retirement, so using their skills to give back, get involved in causes and often to remain engaged to some degree in the labour market. I think where we are probably lacking at the moment as a society is that we still haven’t figured out a proper way to harness the skills and knowledge of retirees to mentor and build the skills of new labour market entrants.”

The primary issue among the elderly is money, says Dolley. “We have found it is mainly women caring for entire households of young children because either their own children have passed on or have moved to a different city or even province and very seldom send remittances back home, so often granny is left to support from five up to 10 children in their households.”

And that’s not all – many of the elderly women she is referring to were “domestic workers in and around bigger towns or on farms”. When they reach an age where they can’t work anymore, there’s often no pension or allowance – “when it is over, it is over.”

“I am going to be 60 next month and there is no way I can retire. I have always worked, I have a home and a husband who also works, he’s a teacher, but from an affordability point of view, with life as it is, I just don’t have enough savings to be able to ‘retire’ comfortably. I will have to continue to work and thank God I am healthy and still have energy and I still have a job which I am hoping to continue for many more years to come.”

Magdalena von Solms, director of CMR Eastern Cape’s child protection services, echoes this feeling: “I have seen with colleagues of mine that they are working longer and longer, beyond 60, because they just simply cannot afford to retire. If they still have the strength and the ability and their work is able to accommodate them, they will hold on tightly to that work. Although there is a pension fund, it is not enough to sustain them.”

Von Solms says what Dolley encounters in the rural areas is similar to the urban areas where the majority of her work is based. She works with vulnerable families across the spectrum of the population where there is abuse, neglect or abandonment. 

Working in child protection, Von Solms gets to know entire families, dealing extensively with children’s caregivers. “What we find is that your caregivers are mostly older people ‘standing in’ for grandchildren or their children. Many times we have found that the child’s parents either leave to find work somewhere else and the family need to stand in for the children, or the age group that need to raise their own children have passed away or abandoned their children completely. So elderly members of the family like grandparents are standing in and they are getting older and older but have to raise children with a subsidy grant of R1,800 a month.”

The Covid-19 pandemic has made the situation worse as people lose their jobs. “Just this morning I had a conversation with one of my colleagues about the increase in requests for food support because the pension the elderly are receiving is only stretching as far as keeping the lights on for them and the family members they are supporting.

“From the perspective of the work I do, I think the number of older persons who retire with enough to have that wonderful, dream retirement is marginal. The majority need to take care of other family members, younger generations. I see this every day.”

Fear of retirement

“I would imagine that most people have some level of concern around whether they have saved enough to see them comfortably through retirement. We do not know how long we will be retired for, which creates uncertainty on the financial side. And we know that, as South Africans, we generally do not or cannot save enough for retirement,” says Oosthuizen.

And on top of financial worries, there are psychological concerns.  

According to psychologist Erik Erikson, people in their 60s are in the psychosocial developmental stage of generativity versus stagnation and after 65 shift to integrity versus despair. The former is associated with the need to give back, to contribute to society and to find ways to support the next generation. 

“Yet people are expected to retire and are in many ways simply discarded as no longer having anything of value to offer. This arguably contributes to the thwarting of these developmental needs, making the transition to a sense of integrity rather than despair harder,” says clinical psychologist Dr Natalie Kerr.

“Some people have spent their entire lives working in a position or pursuing a career to which they have devoted their lives, their energy, their skill, etc, and their work was how they derived a sense of meaning and purpose in life. Some of them have defined themselves and based their entire sense of identity on what they do. For these people their status and sense of self are directly related to their functioning at work. Retirement thus represents a loss of a sense of identity, status, sense of self, etc.

“However, these individuals are still capable of making a significant contribution long past their retirement age and the loss of their skills and expertise should not be regarded as insignificant. They can, and should, still play a role in society,” she adds.

Retirement versus reinvention

“Do you reinvent yourself? If you still have your physical and mental dexterity, then 100% yes. Because you have to. If you can reinvent yourself with a skill that you already have, then do it. Whether it is project management or consulting or volunteer work. Changing your occupation and adopting an entirely new skill can be difficult and risky as an older person, but reinvention of an existing skill can and should be done,” says Holmes.

Kerr points out that “‘reinvention’ is not the same as ‘redirection’. A person of 60-plus should be in a perfectly good position to change direction without having to start at bedrock. Redirections tap into skills evolved over decades and intellectual and creative capacities that don’t form overnight.”

When thinking about retirement, Oosthuizen’s advice is to not look at it as “a big bang event” where one suddenly goes from working and earning to not working and living off one’s savings, but to figure out how to transition gradually from one to the other in a “part-time retirement”. 

“For example, scale back to a couple days of work per week or part-time employment if that’s an option, or harness your skills to supplement your income. I don’t think that reinvention is for everyone or a necessity, and I think some of the options such as starting new businesses may come with considerable risk at a life stage where high risk is not generally advisable and so should be considered very carefully.”

With increasingly high levels of uncertainty about job security and job requirements often shifting rapidly to meet new demands, Kerr advises to keep learning, no matter one’s age: “Those who keep learning and have the capacity to adapt quickly to change are the ones most likely to survive a turbulent labour market. There is no reason ‘older’ employees would not be able to do this too… Of course, there will always be those who don’t want to reinvent themselves and who eagerly anticipate retirement, and that too is okay.”

And “don’t wait until retirement to ‘start living’”, she adds, because things may not work out as planned. “Rather do the things that you want to do while you can and start developing a range of skills and learning new things and making new connections so that you remain relevant in the workplace and also connected to people who are not in your usual work environment.”  

It’s important, she notes, that people don’t define themselves and their phases of life in terms of age categories and instead start using more initiative to keep growing, learning and up/multiskilling to remain relevant, but within reason.

“Try new things, but do so responsibly. Some people have big plans about starting their own businesses or venturing into markets of which they have little experience… It would be advisable for people to thoroughly explore and investigate their dreams in terms of the hard realities of, for example, running a business and learning the skills they might need before they dive in.”

Holmes shares his personal experience: “I have had the same career as when I started but I am using my old skills. You have to not only embrace technology and the gig economy but be willing to upskill yourself. It is never too late to upskill. One thing I have always held close is the idea that everything of yours can be taken away from you except your knowledge and experience.” We shouldn’t be afraid of competing with a younger workforce but be encouraged to work together. “Work with the younger generations. It can become very exciting and as cliché as it may sound, it really does keep you young.

“We are already living in a very different world. For the next generations, retirement will be incredibly different too compared with that of your parents and that of my parents. I think the next generations will become more and more mobile. You will have to maintain your level of technical prowess; you will have to continue to embrace new technologies; you will have to be aware of the difficulties that will arise from not communicating with people face-to-face… But in a way, the same basic rules apply. You have to form solid relationships if you can. Creating and maintaining life partnerships, whatever those may be, are incredibly important when growing old. You cannot put a value on what that means.”

www.samigration.com

Businessman with links to Belarus strongman Alexander Lukashenko was arrested by Congolese police in Lubumbashi on Wednesday after meeting with former president Joseph Kabila.

Mystery and international intrigue surround the arrest in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) of Alexander Zingman, a businessman and alleged arms dealer with close links to Belarus strongman Alexander Lukashenko.

Zingman was arrested by Congolese police in Lubumbashi on Wednesday after meeting with former president Joseph Kabila. Zingman has previously been mentioned in media reports in connection with arms deals in Zambia and Zimbabwe – which he has denied.

A source close to the administration of DRC President Felix Tshisekedi confirmed Zingman’s arrest. He said that after meeting Kabila, Zingman flew from Kinshasa to Lubumbashi, where he was questioned by police about his business in the DRC. The source said he could not explain what he was doing in the DRC.

Zingman is a dual US and Belarus citizen, and his arrest has led to intense diplomatic activity. The Congolese source said the governments of the United Arab Emirates and Zimbabwe were both applying pressure for his release. However, the Congolese official said, they were “holding on to him for now”.

Another DRC source claimed that Zingman had offered to sell weapons to the former president, whose relations with his successor are said to be tense. The source said there was no evidence that Kabila invited the meeting or agreed to any arms deals.

Zingman threatened to sue the investigative Zambian newspaper Digger News in 2020 after it published pictures of him meeting at the Zambian Embassy in Moscow with President Edgar Lungu and the top brass of the Zambian military including Defence Permanent Secretary Sturdy Mwale, and Zambia Air Force Commander Lieutenant-General David Muma, in 2016.

The newspaper reported that Zingman brokered a meeting between the president and Lungu and Alexander Mikheev, president of Rosoboronexport, the Russian state-owned arms exporting company. In July 2017 Zambia purchased five Sukhoi jets from Russia.

Zingman has been photographed many times with Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who has been on Zingman’s private jet. He is Zimbabwe’s honorary consul to Belarus.

www.samigration.com