NPA vows to go after Mcebo Dlamini if he fails to prove his citizenship this week
If #FeesMustFall leader Mcebo Dlamini fails to prove his citizenship this week, the National Prosecuting Authority plans to go after him.
This week, Dlamini in the Joburg Magistrate’s Court pleaded guilty to public violence and was sentenced to two years and six months in jail, suspended for five years.
In a new charge, he was found guilty of contravening immigration law by overstaying in the country after entering South Africa on a student visa.
He has been given three days to prove to the Department of Home Affairs that he is indeed a South African.
The former Wits SRC president said on Tuesday that he was born in neighbouring Eswatini to South African parents. The issue of his citizenship, he said, first arose when he was arrested in 2016 and needed to apply for bail.
“When we were denied bail, we were told that my (birth) certificates were conflicting. We were called to clarify those things within 14 days. We failed to meet the 14 days.”
When he was released on bail, Dlamini said he overlooked clarifying the matter.
“This thing died. It was never part of the charges up until on Monday. There was never a Home Affairs charge before,” he said.
Dlamini said his legal team was working on furnishing the Department of Home Affairs with all the relevant documentation in the time allocated.
He, however, denied entering the country on a student visa but on a normal passport.
“We entered here with a passport. I was born in Swaziland, that is not a secret. I was born in Swaziland to South African parents.”
Dlamini said after entering the country, he applied for his South African citizenship.
“We applied for citizenship through the fact that I had South African parents and it was granted. We didn’t buy it, it was granted,” Dlamini said.
If he fails to prove this, the NPA has vowed to go after him.
NPA spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane said: “We will not hesitate to take the necessary action should he fail to comply with the order of the court.”
Dlamini was the second #FMF leader to be convicted in Gauteng. The first was Khaya Cekeshe, who was recently released on parole after serving two of his eight-year sentence for similar charges.
Another student who was convicted for #FMF-related criminal activities was Bonginkosi Khanyile at the Durban University of Technology two years ago.
Last August, Dlamini embarked on a gruelling 56.6km walk from Wits University to the Union Buildings to ask President Cyril Ramaphosa to release student activists arrested during the #FeesMustFall protests that had hit the country since 2015.
Dlamini, a law graduate, said his conviction was hard because he had hoped to practise as a lawyer.
“We are taking it with mixed feelings in that I did want the trial to end. It had taken long and was beginning to weigh heavy on me. The other problem is that there is a criminal record and we have aspirations of being lawyers.
“I pleaded guilty to public violence because I accepted leading the #FeesMustFall protest. I accepted that I led the protests that turned violent and stopped people from going to class.”
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Source: The Star
