Mos Def will be allowed to leave South Africa after he apologised for breaking immigration laws, it has been announced.

The US hip-hop star, whose real name is Yasiin Bey, was arrested in January after trying to leave South Africa on a “world passport”, which the country does not recognise as a legal travel document.

Bey, who has lived in Cape Town since 2013, will be declared an undesirable person for his actions and will not be granted re-entry to South Africa, the home affairs department said.

“[He] has unreservedly apologised to the government of South Africa. The department is satisfied with the apology [and] will withdraw the charges against him,” it said in a statement.



The world passport is a document issued by the World Service Authority, a non-profit organisation set up in the US after the second world war to advocate for world citizenship. Citing the United Nations’ right to freedom of movement, it has been issuing the passports since 1954.

Many countries do not accept the passport either as a travel document or a formal identity but the WSA claims countries such as Togo, Mauritania, Ecuador, Zambia, Tanzania have accepted the 30-page document in the past.