Brickz denied entry into Zimbabwe
Kwaito star Brickz ran into trouble with his passport and was denied entry into Zimbabwe, where he was expected to perform for the first time, at Kalawa Jazmee's annual party, organised by DJ Oskido.
FILE PICTURE: Kwaito artist Sipho ‘Brickz’ Ndlovu emerges from the holding cells ahead of his bail application hearing in the Roodepoort Magistrate’s court where he is appearing on rape charges, 18 November 2013. The hearing has been postponed to 19 November 2013 for judgment. Picture: Refilwe Modise
This comes three weeks after getting bail for allegedly raping a teenage girl.
Two highly-placed sources told Sunday Sun that the star’s temporary passport was cancelled by emigration officials in South Africa late last year as it was believed he had unresolved issues in the country.
“It was an emotional situation because he was really looking forward to performing. But he took it like a man and decided to go back and focus on other gigs which he was booked to perform at, like the Can Do New Year’s eve concert in Newtown,” a source said.
Another source said Brickz was disappointed, but didn’t want to cause a scene.
Added a source: “He told officials at OR Tambo Airport in Joburg he has a permanent passport, but they wanted to see it. He couldn’t produce it for them to see. So they then cancelled the temporary passport and advised him to go back.”
But his lawyer, Isaac Mokgobi, refuted claims about unresolved issues, saying that Brickz was not refused entry into Zimbabwe because of his pending case.
Isaac confirmed the incident, but stated that the immigration officials cancelled Brickz’s temporary passport because it had expired and not the other way around.
“Brickz doesn’t have any travel conditions as part of his bail. I had his permanent passport, which he was supposed to use for the trip, but I was using it for the case,” he said.
Brickz didn’t seem upset by the incident.
“My temporary passport had expired and I thought it would only expire in 2015. I was only aware when I got to the emigration counter that my permanent passport was with my lawyer who was on vacation.” He said.
“This had nothing to do with my case. I’m going into the studio and will be creating new music.” He added.
– TeamTalk
