Godfrey Lebeya, former Hawks head, has denied the explosive claims made by Shepherd Bushiri. Bushiri claimed that top SAPS and Hawks officials had tried to extort cash from him for his criminal cases to be dropped. Bushiri made the claim in an exclusive interview given to eNCA Lilongwe. He claimed that top police officials were trying to extort bribes. He claimed that former Hawks spokesperson Paul Ramaloko summoned him once to a farm, and demanded a R2m bribe to secure a Lebeya meeting. Lebeya referred to the allegations as lies and fabrications in a separate eNCA interview. “I have never met this prophet Bushiri nor have I ever talked to him. I never invited anybody to come and discuss with me to make a case go away. The cases will never go away,” He said. He claimed that Bushiri has changed his story many times over the years. “He has been changing his story. I have listened to him. The story that he is putting forward today, alleging that I have summoned him to my farm and house. He has previously said that it was General Sibiya. He has now changed to say that it is Lebeya,” Former Hawks boss. Lebeya said Bushiri’s timeline was incorrect, as he had not been in the police at the beginning of the alleged act of extortion. “I hear that he says that these things started happening from 2016, until 2019. I was outside the police at the time when he says these things started happening. In fact, it is during this period that I came into the Hawks in 2018 that I found that part of the more than 20,000 cases that were under investigation included this one of Prophet Bushiri. The team that was investigating this is highly experienced.” Ramaloko’s response to the claim that he arranged a meeting at a farm and offered to present his case “go away,” Lebeya dismissed the idea as a fantasy. “He’s lying. Maybe a security guard or whoever may have deceived him. It is not the first time that you hear people saying that they are negotiating with the head and the like. Part of those you shall have known before I leave the office, who was arrested?” Lebeya. Lebeya claimed that he had sent Ramaloko an alert message before the broadcast informing him of the allegations. “I have not spoken to him. I sent him a message before the broadcast when I was informed that there would be a broadcast in the evening, but I have not spoken to him. I did not ask him,” He said. Bushiri was arrested with his wife Mary in South Africa, in November 2020. They were charged with fraud and money laundering. In addition to rape and breaching bail conditions they were charged with a violation of the Civil Aviation Act and Immigration Act as well as the Financial Advisory and Intermediary and Services Act. The couple fled the country after being released on bail of R200,000 each. This sparked diplomatic tensions between Pretoria, Lilongwe and Malawi. South Africa had sought their extradition. However, the process is now in a state of collapse. The high court in Malawi refused to send the two back to South Africa, citing hearsay, documents that were not authenticated properly and safety concerns. Justice Mzonde Mvula concluded that the extradition was not a fair process. “fell short” of Malawian legal standards and violated the principle of audi alteram partem, which is the right to be heard, because the magistrate’s court delivered its ruling without allowing the Bushiris to present their defence. The ruling set aside a previous decision by a magistrate’s court that had ordered their committal for surrender to South Africa. Bushiri says that his followers have grown since he left South Africa. “Our church grew five times more than when I was in South Africa. Our church grew bigger,” He said. He claimed that the church boasted more than two million registered members throughout South Africa. There are branches in Johannesburg Pretoria Durban Cape Town. TimesLIVE
2025-11-20 16:41:59
Former Hawks boss rejects R2m bribe claims
