A 26-year-old South African man alleged to be the sender of an email which resulted in the temporary closure of the Victoria Falls International Airport on Friday has been arrested.
The identity of “John Doe”, who sent a bomb/firearm alert to FastJet alleging a plan to attack Zimbabwe’s airports, particularly Victoria Falls International Airport, has been uncovered.
As reported by ZimLive, Deputy Chief Secretary in the Office of the President and Cabinet (Presidential Communications) George Charamba said “Our security services have traced the so-called John Doe to one Cuan Reed Govender.” He wrote on X:
In the interests of ongoing operations, we leave it at that for now. We thank Zimbabweans for remaining calm while operations are underway. We hope to reach closure very soon.
Govender, of Elizabeth Avenue in the Durban neighbourhood of Molkwood, was reportedly arrested on 02 March at Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport after X-ray scanners detected five bullets in his luggage.
He was reportedly about to board an Airlink flight to Johannesburg.
According to ZimLive, Govender, whose left hand was amputated in 2020 after injuries sustained during an armed robbery, told Zimbabwean investigators that the blue bag he carried to the airport, in which the bullets were found, was the same one he used when going to the shooting range after buying a gun to defend himself.
He said he must have forgotten to remove the bullets.
Govender said he flew to Zimbabwe on 26 February on a week-long visit to oversee a money transfer business in which he is the general manager. It was his first trip to the country.
He was taken to the Harare Magistrates Court on 02 March where he appeared without a lawyer before magistrate Sharon Rakafa, who remanded him to 04 March for plea recording.
Mnangagwa was forced to abandon a trip to Victoria Falls mid-flight after authorities were warned of a “credible bomb or firearm threat” following the email sent to Fastjet by “John Doe”.
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