Student activist Vusi Mahlangu, who claimed he was kidnapped and assaulted last week, appeared briefly in the Mthatha magistrate’s court on Wednesday on charges of perjury and defeating the ends of justice.
NPA regional spokesperson, Luxolo Tyali said the case was postponed to Friday to verify background information and check if he has previous convictions.
Mahlangu was arrested on Tuesday following his visit to the Hawks offices in the Eastern Cape.
Last week Mahlangu mysteriously went missing. At the time, he was last seen while on his way to a meeting with workers at the Walter Sisulu University.
Mahlangu’s friends raised the alarm after the activist failed to arrive at a meeting with WSU workers around the issue of outsourcing.
In a Whatsapp message, Mahlangu wrote that he had been kidnapped, beaten and was being held in a dark room.
News of his disappearance made headlines across the country.
The Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation’s (Hawks) national spokesperson Major Robert Netshiunda said that Mahlangu’s version of events amounted to perjury.
“His statement contradicted statements from witnesses and evidence collected by the task team which was responsible for investigating the alleged kidnapping,” read a statement from the Hawks.
Mahlangu is credited with negotiating for workers at the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT), where management started a process to do away with outsourcing and improving the workers’ wages. He went to the Eastern Cape to assist university workers there.
Mahlangu is currently being detained at Mthatha Central police station.
-African News Agency (ANA)
