JOHANNESBURG - Only South African government officials with intimate knowledge of the case against Shepherd Bushiri will be required to testify in a Malawian court.
In 2020, Bushiri and his wife Mary skipped the country after being granted bail in a fraud and corruption case against them.
READ: SA witnesses in Bushiri case will have to testify in Malawi
The High Court in Malawi overturned an earlier ruling that witnesses in South Africa could testify virtually.
The South African Justice Department says that as the case is not a criminal trial, only those with knowledge of the extradition case will be required to present themselves.
"Most importantly the judgment also really draws a very important distinction to say that this is not trial within a trial," said the department's Chrispin Phiri.
"What they want is people who have intimate knowledge of the investigation itself to appear."