News Articles

Freshlyground member remains in custody over 'fake' visa

Source: Times Live, 04/10/2016


TshisaLIVE has confirmed that Freshlyground musician Christian
Bakalanga was arrested and taken to Tembisa police station on Friday,
after being caught at O.R. Tambo International Airport with an alleged
fake visa.


Speaking to TshisaLive on Tuesday, Tembisa police spokesperson
Patricia Mgijama confirmed that the guitarist had been stopped by
police and home affairs officials at the airport and was arrested for
being in possession of the alleged illegal document.


She further confirmed that the artist is still in custody, and will
remain so until home affairs confirm the charges against him.


"He is currently in custody and we cannot confirm when he will appear
in court. We are still waiting for home affairs to confirm whether he
will face a charge of fraud or be deported. Only once that information
has been provided to us can we go forward with a court date," Patricia
said.


According to a source speaking to Daily Sun, Christian's troubles
started when his visa expired. When the Congolese national visited
home affairs to try sort it out, he found the queues were "very long"
and so turned to a supposed lawyer who helped him get a new visa -
which was later found to be invalid.


The paper added that both Christian and Freshlyground management were
not aware that the document was fake and have laid a criminal case
against the supposed lawyer.


Attempts to contact Freshlyground management for further comment on
the matter were unsuccessful.




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