City Press reports that an Eastern Cape businessman, Collins Heshula, has lodged a complaint with the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) after he was allegedly kidnapped and tortured by 14 members of the police.

He opened the case at Inyibiba Police Station in Mdantsane, Eastern Cape, on 3 May. He said the police, who were in uniform, allegedly forcefully kidnapped him on 23 April at around 11pm with no arrest warrant. They allegedly handcuffed, blindfolded and drove him from Alice to Mdantsane Police Depot near Fort Jackson. Heshula claimed: “They undressed me and tied my hands and feet, while three of them sat on top of me.” He alleged an officer used a zip plastic bag to suffocate him and demanded information about who the killers of Mboneli Vesele, the late bodyguard of the University of Fort Hare vice-chancellor, Professor Sakhela Buhlungu, were. Vesele was shot dead outside Buhlungu’s residence in January in what the university deemed as an attempt on the vice-chancellor’s life. Heshula said he was asked who planned the assassination. The torture, Heshula said, in which they banged his head repeatedly on the wall and kicked and choked him, went on for two hours. A medical report dated 28 April details that Heshula sustained a head injury on top of the head, loss of memory and seizures at times. His injuries included injuries on the right shoulder, forearm and left wrist. Others were internal chest injuries, swollen ankles and multiple bruises on the back. "The case is being investigated as an assault," Ipid spokesperson Robbie Raburabu indicated.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Msindisi Fengu at City Press (subscriber access only)

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