Craig Smith, the immigration lawyer, secures bail for US celebrity actor and musician Mos Def in Bellville Magistrates Court on immigrated related offence.

On the January 2016 Craig Smith was instructed to appear and apply for bail on behalf of Mos Def. The State opposed bail.

After an intense and drawn out court battle Mos Def was granted bail and released from custody wherein the matter was postponed to a later date for representations to be made.

The immigration offence related to an alleged misrepresentation of a passport document upon his departure at Cape Town International airport.

Craig Smith made it clear that there was no such contravention of any immigration related offence.

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The Story

On 09 Jan 2016‚ Mr. Dante Terry Smith aka Yasiin Bey, or more commonly, Mos Def, attempted to depart from Cape Town International Airport by producing a “World Passport”‚ which was declined by immigration officials.
On the 14 January, Yasin Bey was arrested and on the 15th he appeared in Bellville Magistrate Court which stated a case that is said to be “complicated but simple at the same time”. This case has been postponed a couple times and is currently still in process, the next hearing is on 12 May, 2016. *(Postponed to: 19 May)

Yasin Bey came to South Africa for the first time in 2009 and said: “Yeah’. I know when the good vibe gets to you.  I thought about this place every day when I left.” He returned again in 2013 and since then has been back at least 10 more times. In fact he felt that this place is great for his family and they have joined him in the country. Fast-forwarding to today, and we see a very different attitude to the same place after recent events. In his recent message published by Kanye West he says: “No more parties in SA, Please, tell ’em no more parties in SA… Hey Home Affairs, I don’t need to stay, I’ll leave and stay away“.

Mos Def was allegedly charged with using a false and fraudulent document (World Passport) to exit the country, it is important to note that Mr. Dante Smith was legaly staying in South Africa, and had the immigration officer simply asked him to produce a different form of ID such as His valid USA passport, there would not have been an issue.

The matter however gets more complicated as the family of Mr. Dante have indeed overstayed their legal status and therefore have been asked to leave the country giving them 14 days to do so. The Matter complicates even more as Mos Def has had complications with immigration in his own country, USA, which also was a reason for him arriving to Cape Town in the first place. All this sums up to say that the rapper just might have no place to return to.

At this point in the story Nelson Mandela’s grandson, Zondwa Mandela, who is following the case closely decided to get a professional on the case and commissioned Craig Smith and Associates to Defend the Case of Mos Def. Craig Smith has achieved bail of R5000 for Mr. Dante allowing him to stay in South Africa while the case continues and the court extended an interim order to the members of his family who are with him in SA, stating that they could not be deported pending his ongoing criminal case.

Yasiin Bey is currently in Cape town, sending out a message to the world: link

Next court date is on 12 May ,2016
UPDATE: The case was postponed to next Thursday (19 May) for counsel to arrange a trial date.

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