Fake visa, fake lawyers, real arrest for Freshlyground member

Award-winning group Freshlyground’s guitarist Christian Bakalanga has reportedly been arrested after being found with a fake visa at OR Tambo International Airport on Friday.

According to Daily Sun, the guitarist, originally from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), has been in the country since 2005 and had been staying with his fiancee in Cape Town since then.

However, his visa expired, and he went to Home Affairs offices to get a new one when he found the queue too long.

With time not on his side, Bakalanga reportedly approached “lawyers”, who helped him get a new visa that was found to be invalid by home affairs when he presented it at the airport.

The group’s representative confirmed the arrest to the tabloid, but said neither Bakalanga nor the group knew that the visa was fake.

Tembisa police spokesperson Constable Patricia Mgijima reportedly confirmed that a Freshlyground member was arrested and had been detained at the station since Friday.

The guitarist was unable to travel to Malawi with the rest of the band. The band performed at the Lake of Stars Festival, which took place on Saturday.

It is not clear if he will be deported or face criminal charges.