An e-hailing driver, accused of assaulting a passenger, is now facing an additional immigration charge, after the state introduced fresh allegations in court that he may be in the country illegally.

Valentine Dube appeared before the Alexandra Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday on a charge of assault, stemming from an incident on July 26 when a 22‑year‑old passenger alleged he threatened her during a ride booked from Kew to Lombardy West.

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At his previous appearance on July 29, the state requested a postponement to secure a Section 212 report and verify Dube’s address.

On Tuesday, the state prosecutor confirmed that they had since successfully obtained the report and verified Dube’s address, but she told the court that the report had raised a new complication, as it indicated that Dube was in the country illegally.

On that basis, she said the state intended to add a charge of contravening the Immigration Act. She asked for another postponement to obtain witness statements, and for the accused’s bail application.

The defence objected to the postponement, arguing the matter had already been delayed once for the very 212 report now in hand, and that further postponement was unwarranted.

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Dube’s lawyer also disputed the substance of the new allegation pertaining to Dube’s status in the country. He told the court that the passport number reflected in the Section 212 report did not belong to his client.

He further accused the state of conducting what he called a fishing expedition, and pointed to what he described as a pattern of shifting charges since the case began, from an initial charge of kidnapping, to assault, to the current charge of assault by threat, and now, he said, an immigration offence he maintained had no basis in fact.

The prosecutor suggested the defence could assist by providing Dube’s correct passport details to verify the report, but the defence rejected this, arguing that because Dube faces a schedule 1 offence, the onus rests squarely on the state to prove its own case, not on the defence to assist it.

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The complainant’s mother, Magdeline Sefike, said her daughter had booked the ride in the early hours of July 26, expecting to travel from Kew to Lombardy West, but instead was driven toward Alexandra.

She alleged that when her daughter questioned the driver, he became aggressive. The complainant was eventually dropped off along London Road in Alexandra.

A case was subsequently opened, and Dube later, according to his lawyer, handed himself over to police after learning he was wanted. His lawyer urged the court to treat bail as urgent.

Despite acknowledging a heavy court roll, the magistrate postponed the matter to August 5 for a possible bail application.

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