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Ten suspects implicated in the murders of Fort Hare University staff members appeared in court in Dikeni, formerly Alice, on Tuesday.
The latest arrest was the Director for Investigations and Vetting Services, 59-year-old Isaac Plaaitjies.
National Commissioner, General Fannie Masemola, was in court with other SAPS officials and expressed his shock at Plaaitjie's arrest, who had been actively assisting the police investigation into the murders.
The case against the ten was postponed to 13 December pending the finalisation of the bail application of six of the accused, with the bail hearings set to proceed from 27 November.
The National Prosecuting Authority's regional spokesperson, Luxulo Tyali said the state would oppose all bail applications.
The arrests of these ten suspects follow the murders of university fleet manager, Petrus Roets, and the Vice-chancellor (VC)'s bodyguard, Mboneli Vesele, as well as the attempted murder of vice-chancellor, Professor Sakhele Buhlungu and his deputy, Renuka Vithal.
Tyali said it is alleged that after Professor Buhlungu was appointed he discovered serious cases of maladministration, corruption, and fraud opened criminal cases, and held disciplinary hearings against the alleged culprits.
[UFH]10 suspects are at this hour appearing before the Alice Magistrate’s Court in connection with the (02) murders & (03) attempted murder cases linked to the University of Fort Hare. The latest arrest by SAPS is the University’s head of investigations & vetting,Isaac Plaatjies pic.twitter.com/gx6lQjxC0p
— Athlenda Mathe (@AthlendaM) November 21, 2023
As a result, he said Buhulungu started to receive death threats leading to Vesele being appointed as his bodyguard.
He died in a hail of bullets on 6 January this year.
Before his murder, there were two other shooting incidents, with the third being the murder of Roets who was shot in his car on 19 May on the Gonubie off-ramp.
The court also heard of a hit list with the names of 13 other university staff members as well as an apparent bounty of R5 million next to Buhlungu's name.
Also Read: Five in court for Fort Hare University murders
Four of the suspects were former staff members, with one Sicelo Mbulawa, a former SRC member and service provider to the university, being granted bail of R75 000 in the Makhanda High Court.
The national task team appointed to conduct investigations by Minister Bheki Cele says it cannot rule out the possibility of more arrests as the investigation continues.
