TimesLive Premium reports that University of Fort Hare (UFH) employees are believed to be among the suspects arrested in connection with the murder of two of the institution’s staff members.
University spokesperson JP Roodt said on Monday that warrants for the arrest of the suspects were executed over the Easter weekend, and “we believe it also includes UFH employees”. UFH vice-chancellor, professor Sakhela Buhlungu’s bodyguard, Mboneli Vesele, was shot dead on 6 January near the gate of Buhlungu’s residence in Alice, Eastern Cape. The university’s fleet manager, Petrus Roets, was killed in a suspected hit in March last year near a set of traffic lights at the Gonubie off-ramp while driving home from work. Shots were also fired at the house of the deputy vice-chancellor for teaching and learning, Prof Renuka Vithal, in March last year. A man carrying a gun was captured on CCTV footage climbing over a wall and firing three shots at the entrance to Buhlungu’s house in the same month. A “hit list” emerged containing the names of 16 senior officials, mostly members of the executive management. The most senior ones had an amount of R600,000 written next to their names. The university has been working with the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to clamp down on tender corruption, the suspicious awarding of honours degrees and mismanagement of funds at the institution. Roodt said Buhlungu received a full briefing from the office of national police minister Bheki Cele on Monday. “The university understands that authorities will enrol the case tomorrow (Tuesday) at the Alice Magistrate’s Court,” he indicated.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Prega Govender at TimesLive Premium (subscriber access only)
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