University of Fort Hare vice-chancellor Prof Sakhela Buhlungu says he believes there is a hidden hand behind the death of the university’s fleet and transport manager, who was gunned down in East London in 2022.
Petrus Roets was shot dead on May 19 in a suspected assassination near the traffic lights at the Gonubie off-ramp. Roets had been was driving home from the university’s Dikeni (formerly Alice) campus when he was attacked by two gunmen, who then sped off.
Police spokesperson Brigadier Tembinkosi Kinana said at the time the police were investigating a case of murder and the suspects were still at large.
Kinana did not respond to queries on Tuesday when contacted for an update on the case.
Buhlungu, who believes he was the target of an assassination attempt on Friday night in which his bodyguard was killed, said the case involving the fleet manager had been at a critical stage but somehow it had stalled.
It was “clear it’s something that’s man-made and orchestrated”, he said. “None of them [government officials] has asked what happened to that case, nothing,” he said.
Buhlungu’s bodyguard Mboneli Vesele, was shot dead outside Buhlungu’s house in Dikeni on Friday night.
Buhlungu said the university did not get enough support from the government after it stepped up its campaign against graft — a move he said had met with fierce resistance from those who benefited from crooked deals.
Buhlungu said he had now pinned his hopes on President Cyril Ramaphosa to address the safety and security concerns after several attacks on Fort Hare staff members.
“One person who runs the country is the president,” Buhlungu said, adding that he had not yet heard from the presidency, but he would give it more time.
“I spoke to the minister [of higher education, Blade Nzimande]. He called me yesterday [Saturday], I won’t divulge what we said.”
Nzimande told Newzroom Afrika on Monday he was ready to work with the university to get to the bottom of the challenges. He said he had also had a lengthy telephone conversation with Buhlungu on Monday.
“I told him he has my full support and if he suspects there are people who are after his blood he must go and report to the police,” Nzimande said. “He assured me he had reported all of that to the police.
Nzimande will visit Fort Hare on Wednesday.
Buhlungu said the renewal project at the university was on track notwithstanding the recent upheaval. “We received a clean audit in 2021. We are a financially stable institution,” he said.
Buhlungu also paid tribute to the university community, saying he felt privileged to work with people who understood what they were doing and were “willing to step up at a time like this”.
“My message is that this shall not deter us, we’ll continue and keep up the momentum and we’ll forge ahead,” he said.
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