Zimbabwean Social Media Activist Wellington Masiwa, popularly known on social media as Nyokayemabhunu, has been served with an international arrest warrant by the Zimbabwean government, currently in custody in South Africa.
The warrant stems from an outstanding fraud sentence to be served in Zimbabwe, raising concerns among supporters and legal experts.
Masiwa was first detained by South African authorities on April 13, 2025, on immigration-related charges.
He has been in custody since then, after being charged with contravening Section 49(1) of the South African Immigration Act for allegedly being in the country without valid documentation.
Yesterday, he appeared at Randburg Magistrates’ Court for a hearing related to these charges, during which the international arrest warrant was officially served.
During the court proceedings, Masiwa’s bail application was adjourned after discrepancies in his identification documents emerged.
His lawyers, led by Chrispen Machingura, revealed that Masiwa produced a Zimbabwean birth certificate and identity card with a different date of birth 1987 compared to the Zimbabwean government’s record, which states he was born in 1977.
The South African authorities indicated that the documents provided by Masiwa are believed to be falsified, and the Zimbabwean Embassy in South Africa has confirmed their suspicion.
Masiwa’s lawyers that the fraud charges may be a pretext for extraditing him to Zimbabwe, where he claims he risks imprisonment due to his political activities.
Masiwa is known for running several anti-government WhatsApp groups critical of President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration. He alleges that authorities in Zimbabwe are targeting him for his activism.
