Police served social media figure Wellington Masiwa with an arrest warrant today in South Africa. The Zimbabwean faces fraud charges back home. His lawyer, Chrispen Machingura, says South African police first took him into custody on April 13 for immigration law breaches. Masiwa has stayed locked up since that date. He appeared at Randburg court today to answer these charges.
The court stopped his bail request because his birth date on Zimbabwean papers differs from government records. Zimbabwe officials claim his documents are fake. They say he was born in 1977, but his papers list 1987. The judge moved the case to May 9. Masiwa ran WhatsApp groups against President Mnangagwa. His legal team says the fraud charge aims to bring him back to Zimbabwe for punishment over these groups. Machingura reports that all Masiwa's WhatsApp groups have been taken over with adult content.
The court stopped his bail request because his birth date on Zimbabwean papers differs from government records. Zimbabwe officials claim his documents are fake. They say he was born in 1977, but his papers list 1987. The judge moved the case to May 9. Masiwa ran WhatsApp groups against President Mnangagwa. His legal team says the fraud charge aims to bring him back to Zimbabwe for punishment over these groups. Machingura reports that all Masiwa's WhatsApp groups have been taken over with adult content.
