Bushiri, wife Mary to spend weekend behind bars
Self-proclaimed Prophet Bushiri, his wife Mary and their co-accused Landiwe Ntlokwana will spend the weekend at the Kgosi Mampuru prison in Pretoria.
On Friday the three appeared at the Pretoria Magistrates Court where their bail applications were not granted.
They are facing money laundering and fraud charges related to an investment scheme.
Their lawyer, advocate Annalien van den Heever told the court the Bushiris and Ntlokwana intend to plead not guilty.
In her motivation, Van den Heever said they have no previous convictions and have handed their passports over to the investigating officer.
In his affidavit, Bushiri told the court his children, who reside in Malawi, are too young to be separated from their father.
The Bushiris so indicated that they lead a church of more than 2 million members who depend on them for spiritual guidance and have several business across the globe that will suffer if they are imprisoned for the duration of the trial.
They all said they were confident that they will be acquitted of all charges.
On Monday the state will respond in arguments to their bail application.
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Bushiri, his wife Mary, and third suspect Landiwe Ntlokwana appeared before the court on Wednesday on fraud and money laundering charges. The charges relate to an investment scheme. The matter was postponed to Friday as the state has argued it is not ready to proceed with the formal bail application.