Nyokayemabhunu issued with international warrant of arrest

Zimbabwean national, Wellington Masiwa, popularly known on social media as Nyokayemabhunu, has been served with an international warrant of arrest in South Africa by the Zimbabwean government today, renowned investigative journalist Hopewell Chin’ono writes:

The warrant states that he has an outstanding fraud sentence to be served in Zimbabwe.

One of his lawyers, Chrispen Machingura, told me that Masiwa, who was first arrested by South African police on 13 April 2025 on immigration charges, has been in custody since then.

The South African authorities charged him with contravention of Section 49(1) of the Immigration Act for being found in South Africa without a valid visa or permit.

He appeared today at Randburg Magistrates’ Court to answer to the immigration charges, where the international arrest warrant was served.

In court today, his bail application could not proceed because he produced a Zimbabwean birth certificate and identity card with a different date of birth from the one being used by the Zimbabwean government.

The South African prosecution authorities said the Zimbabwean Embassy in South Africa is claiming that the documents Masiwa produced are fake.

The Zimbabwean government says his year of birth is 1977, yet Masiwa’s documents state he was born in 1987. The case was postponed to 9 May 2025.

Masiwa, who ran a popular anti-Mnangagwa WhatsApp groups, has informed his lawyers that the fraud charge is a ruse to extradite him to Zimbabwe and then use the judiciary there to imprison him for running the anti-Mnangagwa WhatsApps group from South Africa according to his lawyers.

Machingura said all WhatsApp groups ran by Masiwa have now been hacked and are now distributing pornographic material.