Police in the Eastern Cape are working to confirm reports that a second bodyguard for Fort Hare University Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sakhela Buhlungu, has been killed in a hit-and-run car crash.
The University of Fort Hare (UFH) reportedly confirmed the incident independent pay-to-air news channel, Newzroom Afrika.
While details remain sketchy, its understood the deceased, who was the second man hired to provide personal protection to Buhlungu was on his way to Alice campus on Sunday morning when the incident took place.
He was also rumored to be a crucial witness in the upcoming murder trial of Buhlungu’s first slain body guard.
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UFH rife with assassination attempts and corruption
The higher educational institution whose student alumni includes struggle icon and South Africa’s first democratically elected President Nelson Mandela, is now a battle ground rife with corruption and assassinations.
The hit and run comes three months after Buhlungu’s first body guard, Mboneli Vesele, was gunned down in what is suspected to have been an assassination attempt.
That shooting took place outside the vice-chancellor’s Alice residence and Buhlungu escaped unharmed.
Five suspects were arrested in connection with the murders of two UFH employees including Vesele and the institution’s fleet manager Petrus Roets.
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The suspects include two former UFH employees who are facing multiple charges of murder and attempted murder of employees attached to the university.
They are Bongani Peter, Sicelo Mbulawa, Wanini Khuza, Mthobisi Khanyile and Mthobisi Dlamini/Zondo.
Buhlungu’s appointment at UFH in 2016 didn’t sit well with corrupt syndicates fleecing the institution of its resources for years, and bringing governance to near-collapse.
The violence started creeping in as the fight to eradicate corruption was ramped up over the years, including the ongoing Special Investigative Unit (SIU) investigation, and a police task team set up by Minister Bheki Cele.
*This is a developing story
Additional reporting by Thapelo Lekabe and Getrude Makhafola
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