It looks like startling news out of South Africa has just surfaced. According to the Associated Press, famed lyricist Mos Def was arrested for traveling throughout the country with a fake passport, something that Def, born Dante Smith, deemed as a “world passport.”
The Brooklyn native was arrested in Cape Town International airport on Thursday (Jan. 14), where authorities stated he violated the country’s immigration laws. Smith has also been issued a court order to leave South Africa within 14 days, thus banning the “Brown Sugar” rapper from entering the country again for five years, said Department of Home Affairs spokesman Mayihlome Tshwete.
Tshwete also revealed that Smith exhausted his visitor’s permit in South Africa when he initially entered the country in 2013 with an American passport.
In a previous interview with Mail & Guardian, Smith expressed his admiration for South Africa, which dates back seven years ago. “I came to Cape Town in 2009 and I was like, ‘Yeah.’ I know when the good vibe gets to you,” he said. “I thought about this place every day when I left.”
Details on the occurrence are still forthcoming.