Zimbabwean charged with SA hijack

A Zimbabwean man has been charged in connection with Saturday's apparent hijacking attempt in South Africa.

Tinashe Rioga, 21, a student, is accused of trying to enter the cockpit on a Cape Town to Johannesburg flight.

Passengers quoted by local media said a man armed with a syringe tried to take an air hostess hostage and demanded the plane fly to Maputo in Mozambique.

The plane returned to Cape Town after passengers overpowered the man. Mr Rioga was arrested on arrival.

The motive for the attack is unknown.

Mr Rioga, a student at the University of Cape Town, was not asked to plead during his appearance in the Bellville Magistrate's Court in Cape Town.

He was remanded in custody pending a bail hearing on 26 June.

"It appears a passenger threatened a crew member with some sort of weapon demanding access to the cockpit," SAA spokeswoman Jacqui O'Sullivan said.

"The passenger was subdued and no-one was injured."