The internet has spawned a rumour that could flip every shocking event of 2020 on its head. According to reports, former Bosasa (they now operate as African Global Operations) boss Gavin Watson is still alive.
Now, considering the sensitivity of this claim, we are going to prefix our investigation with this disclaimer:
The views shared in this article are not held by Swisher Post, I WISH U WUD Publications and any of its affiliates. The information we gathered was sourced from third party individuals who are, in no way, associated with Swisher Post, I WISH U WUD Publications and its affiliates.
Is Gavin Watson still alive? – Here’s what we know for a fact
The rumour was spun into madness on Tuesday when renowned microblogger, responsible for many prolific exposès, @AdvBarryRoux, alleged that Watson was still alive.
You will remember that the shamed chief executive was meddled in a corruption scandal that was exposed by whistleblower and former chief of operations at Bosasa, Angelo Agrizzi.
Coincidentally, the day before Watson was due to brace the hot seat at the Sars tax inquiry, he was killed in a car crash.
The 71-year-old’s wrecked Toyota Corolla, a company car he rarely drove, was found at 05:05 on Monday, 26 August 2019, on the road leading into OR Tambo International Airport.
A day later, Mandy Wiener, an investigative journalist and author, came forward amid speculation about Watson’s death and confirmed that she had, in fact, took pictures of the Bosasa CEO at the accident scene.
“There are photos of #GavinWatson on the scene of yesterday’s car crash. His face and his injuries are clearly visible. There’s a large gash on his neck. I am not going to post them. For those who speculate that he did a body swap or he’s in the Cayman Islands, I think not,” Weiner wrote.
Watson was given a hero’s send-off with guest appearances from his close political associates, including the former Minister of Enrivonmental Affairs Nomvula Mokonyane and former president Jacob Zuma.
Twitter makes bold claims about Watson’s whereabouts
However, more than a year after the incident, Twitter has sprung up with claims that the Bosasa boss is alive.
Here are the tweets that saw Watson’s name shoot up the trends list.
Is it true? Is it another case of fake news rearing its ugly head? Without a respectable way to fact-check this, we have to believe that the Watson family would not conjure up the crocodile tears to match the sorrow that came with laying Watson at his final resting place.