Government critic Wellington Masiwa, known on social media as Nyokayemabhunu, is facing possible deportation from South Africa following the issuance of an international warrant for his arrest by Zimbabwean authorities.
According to a copy of the warrant dated 29 April 2025, which has surfaced in the public domain, Masiwa is wanted in Zimbabwe to serve an outstanding 18-month prison sentence for fraud, in violation of Section 136 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act [Chapter 9:23].
The warrant was issued under the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Protocol on Extradition, to which both Zimbabwe and South Africa are signatories. It instructs South African law enforcement agencies to arrest Masiwa and present him before a magistrates’ court for extradition proceedings. Reads the warrant:
WHEREAS a request under ARTICLE 10 of the SADC Protocol on Extradition under which the Government of the Republic of South Africa and the Government of the Republic of Zimbabwe are signatory thereof, has been received for the request for provisional arrest of MR WELLINGTON MASIWA.
WHEREAS I am in receipt of information under oath that a warrant of arrest has been issued in the Republic of Zimbabwe against MR WELLINGTON MASIWA and that he is wanted to serve sentenced of 18 Months for One count of Fraud defined in Section 136 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act[Chapter 9:23], Laws of Zimbabwe.
AND WHEREAS I am also of the opinion, based upon information placed before me. that the issuing of a warrant of arrest under Section 5(1) (b) of the Extradition Act 67 of 1962, in respect of MR WELLINGTON MASIWA would have been justified on the similar charge of Fraud, had it been alleged that he committed the said offence in the Republic, and that he is a person liable to be surrendered to the Republic of Zimbabwe.
You are hereby directed to arrest him and to bring her before a lower court in accordance with the provisions of Section 50 of the Criminal Procedure Act, 1977 (Act 51 of 1977).
Journalist Hopewell Chin’ono has quoted one of Masiwa’s lawyers, Chrispen Machingura, as saying that Masiwa, widely known by his social media alias Nyokayemabhunu, has been in custody since 13 April 2025, when he was first arrested by South African police on immigration-related charges.
South African authorities have charged Masiwa with contravening Section 49(1) of the Immigration Act, alleging that he was found in the country without a valid visa or permit.
Masiwa appeared at the Randburg Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, 30 April 2025, to answer to the immigration charges, during which time an international arrest warrant from Zimbabwe was formally served.
According to Chin’ono’s source, Masiwa’s bail application could not proceed because he presented a Zimbabwean birth certificate and national identity card bearing a date of birth that differs from the one recorded by the Zimbabwean government.
The Zimbabwean authorities claim Masiwa was born in 1977, while the documents he submitted list his year of birth as 1987.
The Zimbabwean Embassy in South Africa has reportedly told prosecutors that the documents produced by Masiwa are fake. The court has postponed the case to 9 May 2025.
Masiwa, who managed several WhatsApp groups critical of President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration, has reportedly told his lawyers that the fraud conviction cited in the extradition request is a pretext to silence him politically by imprisoning him upon his return to Zimbabwe.
Machingura also claims that all WhatsApp groups formerly run by Masiwa have since been hacked and are now being used to distribute pornographic content.
Back to top