The case against five men who are accused of murdering Fort Hare University staff members has been postponed to May 10 for a bail hearing.
Out of the five alleged murderers who appeared at Alice magistrate’s court, Eastern Cape on Tuesday, three are alleged to be employed by the university.
They face charges for the murder of university’s fleet manager Petrus Roets and Mboneli Vesele, the bodyguard of vice-chancellor professor Sakhela Buhlungu.
Roets, 60, was gunned down in his vehicle near the Gonubie off-ramp on May 19 2022 while Vesele was killed in January 2023 in what is believed to have been an organised hit on Buhlungu.
A multi-disciplinary task team was established in January to investigate the fatal attacks at Fort Hare University.
The establishment of the team followed a visit to the university by Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande, who was accompanied by Police Minister Bheki Cele and then Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele.
In a statement at the time, Cele said the task team, which reports to national police commissioner Fannie Masemola, comprises detectives, forensic analysts, crime intelligence, members of organised crime, and the directorate for priority crime investigation.
Outside the court premises, Buhlungu confirmed that the three suspects work for the university, noting that one of them is on suspension for fraud pending an investigation.
He further told the media that the university is still waiting for the police to apprehend the people who pulled the trigger.
“If the justice system lets go of the ones who are already here, then I will lose all the hope in them and what they stand for,” said Buhlungu.
“One of the people who appeared here is on suspension for fraud at the institution, another one submitted a sick leave on the day of one of these murders because he wanted to make sure that the murder becomes a success.
“However, I do not want to say a lot of things, because I trust the investigation team that has been assigned for this case.”
The five suspects will remain in custody until their next court appearance date.
Follow @SundayWorldZA on Twitter and @sundayworldza on Instagram, or like our Facebook Page, Sunday World, by clicking here for the latest breaking news in South Africa. To Subscribe to Sunday World, click here.
Sunday World
