Fifteen more suspects have been arrested in the murder and attempted murder cases at the Fort Hare University. This brings the number of suspects arrested in the case to 25. The arrests come after President Cyril Ramaphosa authorised the Special Investigating Unit to investigate allegations of corruption and serious maladministration at the university since 2012, regarding four contracts and the awarding of honours degrees at the university.
SUSPECTS ARRESTED IN DIFFERENT PROVINCES
According to national police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe, the suspects were arrested in different provinces over the Easter weekend including, Gauteng, the Eastern and Western Cape, as well as KwaZulu-Natal. National Police Commisioner General Fannie Masemola said the task team will continue to do their work without fear or favour. "The team has been hard at work in getting to the bottom of who is behind fraud, corruption and the murders at the university. They will continue to investigate and hunt those who are found to have had a hand in any wrongdoing. Our focus is to bring before court, a case that will be able to stand in court with all the evidence that has been collected by the team," said Masemola.
THE MURDERS
The accused are facing charges relating to the murders of the university Vice-Chancellor Sakhela Buhlungu's bodyguards Mboneli Vesele and Msingathi Langa and fleet manager Petrus Roets in 2022 and in May 2023 respectively. Langa was killed in a hit-and-run in May last year while Vesele was gunned down on 6 January 2022 when Buhlungu's car was shot at outside his house in Alice. Langa was a key witness in the case of the first two murders at the institution.
MORE SUSPECTS AND CHARGES
The 15 will join 10 other suspects who were arrested since April 2023. Bongani Peter, chief operating transport officer, Wanini Khuza, a retired supervisor of drivers at the East London Campus, Sicelo Mbulawa, former SRC member and businessman who also provides services at the university, Mthobisi Khanyile, a criminal from KZN who specialises in stolen vehicles and Mthobisi Dlamini were apprehended for their hand in the case while a police officer attached to Maderia SAPS Detection Services, Constable Lindokuhle Manjati was arrested in July 2023 and added as accused 6. In August 2023, Zimele Chiliza a taxi boss in KZN and the wife of the police officer who is an attorney, Pelisa Nkonyeni, were arrested and charged and added as accused 7 and 8 respectively while accused number 9 was named as Thamsanqa Mgwetyana at his hiding place in KZN. In November 2023, Isaac Plaatjies the University's Director of Investigation and Vetting Services was arrested, charged and added as accused 10. They face a string of charges ranging from fraud, corruption, kidnapping, murder and attempted murder. The 15 suspects are expected to make their first court appearance tomorrow at the Dimbaza Magistrates Court in the Eastern Cape where Masemola and Police Minister Bheki Cele will attend the proceedings.
