Police in the Western Cape have confirmed that two brothers were arrested on Friday on suspicion that they started a hoax e-mail claiming South African complicity in the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington last week.
The two, aged 26 and 35, are to appear in the Stellenbosch Magistrate`s Court today charged with fraud, which carries a jail term of five to 25 years without the option of a fine.
News reports have linked the elder brother to Adept Internet, an Internet service provider (ISP) in Stellenbosch, but the company has since issued a statement flatly denying that it had any association with the suspect.
"As a responsible ISP, Adept Internet does not condone e-mail hoaxes of any kind, and we strongly distance ourselves from the perpetrators of this hoax," reads part of the statement posted on the company`s Web site today. The site also states that Adept had never employed the suspect.
The hoax e-mail spread around SA like wildfire last week, distributing what purported to be a news flash from CNN saying South African citizens and the SA government had possibly been involved in the American attacks.
"The US-secretary of state, Colin Powell, revealed late last night that there is a strong possibility that South Africans and possibly the South African Government might be involved in the terrorism attacks," the message begins. It goes on to say that the possible motive is the US walkout at the recent racism conference in Durban.
The hoax was seen as serious enough to warrant statements by both the local American Embassy and the South African government to debunk it. In its statement, the government called the message psychological and financial terrorism, and referred to the perpetrators as depraved individuals with "wicked intentions".
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