Bizarre 'practical joke' goes awry

Authorities in South Africa, where Rock is on tour with his No Apologies show, received a letter purporting to be from the ‘International Police Association’, and asking for their help in arresting him.

But it was a spoof, apparently sent by a British teenager as a joke, and possibly as a stunt for a TV show.

So Rock’s representatives turned to Johannesburg High Court, to prevent him from being arrested on the basis of the bogus letter.

Judge Kathy Satchwell issued an interim ruling that no law enforcers were allowed to arrest or detain Rock without having obtained the proper warrant. She also ordered that Rock's passport stay in the possession of his lawyer until her final decision, expected tomorrow.

Rock’s tour manager Sam Hendrikse told the local Beeld newspaper that ‘the letter and arrest threat were a practical joke that went wrong’.

‘Our legal team took the necessary precautions to ensure that the tour to South Africa was not disrupted,’ he said.

He added that Rock – who recently broke records for playing to the biggest comedy audience in the UK – would not take legal steps against the practical joker.

Rock hit the headlines earlier in the week for his comments on a wave of South African violence that has claimed the lives of 60 immigrants and forced another 100,000 out of their homes, amid accusations the foreigners were taking jobs and committing crime.

The comic said he did not consider the problem as black-on-black violence, but a product of poverty.

‘It's broke-on-broke violence, he said. ‘It's broke people robbing each other. That's the sad thing’.

Published: 4 Jun 2008