A KwaZulu-Natal businessman who was arrested at Cape Town International Airport for joking about bombs in his bag was on Monday released on R2 000 bail.
He has been charged in terms of the Civil Aviation Act.
Mluleki Thokozani Zulu (42), of Mkuze in KwaZulu-Natal, appeared in the Bellville Magistrate’s Court where magistrate FS Fani postponed the case to December 14.
Zulu owns the South African Breweries-affiliated (SAB) beer outlet Mkuze Beer Distributors, and was on his way home on Saturday from an SAB-organised conference at Velddrift on the Cape West Coast.
His lawyer, Michael Dixon, said Zulu was checking in at Comair Airlines at the airport when he was asked if he had any inflammables in his baggage.
Dixon said Zulu replied in jest: ”No, I only have a few bombs.”
He said the Comair staff must have known that Zulu was joking, as at no stage was his baggage searched.
Charges framed under the Civil Aviation Act are categorised as schedule-six offences, which means an alleged offender has to satisfy a court of law that his release on bail is in the interests of justice.
Because this meant a court appearance, Zulu was kept in custody in a police cell from 11am last Saturday until 3pm on Monday, when his case was called in court.
Dixon said the charge sheet alleges that Zulu made a bomb threat at the airport, when his remark was, in fact, a joke.
He said the fact that Zulu’s luggage was not searched indicates that the airport staff did not take his alleged threat seriously.
The defence hopes to secure the withdrawal of the charge through representations to the Bellville senior prosecuting authorities. — Sapa