A Special Investigating Unit report on the Department of Home Affairs details the criminality of 'holy' men desperate to preach in South Africa, and how local officials and professionals helped them secure unlawful permits.
Bribery, fraud, shady meetings in a fast-food restaurant and the misuse of religious contributions by foreign pastors in South Africa are highlighted in the full interim report on a Special Investigating Unit (SIU) investigation into the Department of Home Affairs sent to President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Though highlighting the unit's findings on two well-known foreign pastors who have since left the country, Shepherd Bushiri and Timothy Omotoso, the report also shows how other foreign pastors managed to unlawfully obtain permits to stay and work in SA.
Cases uncovered by the SIU showed that these pastors paid South African women to marry them so they could stay in the country, and in one case there was a false claim by a Zambian pastor who insisted that he was born in SA.
The report details the sins of the pastors, but it also exposes that they were helped by officials inside Home Affairs, as well as other South African professionals who were members of their churches.
Prophet Shepherd Bushiri
The report, made public on 13 April 2026, finds that Bushiri's permanent residence permit was approved by an adjudicator who was a member of his church, Enlightened Christian Gathering (ECG) Ministries. This is a...
