Mystery surrounds the disappearance of #OutsourcingMustFall activist Vusi Mahlangu who was allegedly kidnapped in Mthatha on Tuesday morning.
Mahlangu, 33, who hails from Mpumalanga, was in town to support striking Walter Sisulu University workers, who are fighting outsourcing at the university.
On the day of his disappearance Mahlangu was due to attend a workers’ meeting at about 10am at WSU’s Nelson Mandela Drive campus. He was apparently kidnapped on his way there.
One of the workers, Monwabisi Nkuzo, later received a WhatsApp message from Mahlangu telling him to open a case of kidnapping. Mahlangu added that he was in a dark room but was unsure if he has been arrested or kidnapped.
Nkuzo showed the Dispatch the conversation thread on his phone.
In one message Nkuzo asks Mahlangu where he is. He responds: “I am not sure leader… its dark here… I can’t see… please open a case of potential kidnapping.”
In another he writes: “I am bleeding. I am not at police station… is too dark here… my phones battery will die soon… I am bleeding nkokeli … bandibethile ababantu .”
Mahlangu’s close friend, WSU fourth-year law student Vuyo Mntonintshi, sent him a message asking where he was at about 11am but never got a response.
He sent another in the afternoon but never received anything back.
Mntonintshi told the Dispatch yesterday that Mahlangu, instrumental in the outsourcing must fall strikes at other universities including Tshwane, Pretoria and Unisa, had arrived in Mthatha last Wednesday.
“We spent time between my rural home in Ncambele and Mbuqe Extension. He left Mbuqe Extension around 10am on Tuesday to come and address workers here.”
Nkuzo said they suspected Mahlangu might have been kidnapped by companies threatened by the protests against outsourcing as they stood to lose millions should the universities agree to stop using the services of private companies.
Mntonintshi declined to give contact numbers for Mahlangu’s family, saying the request not to do so had come from them.
“His family is distraught, as we are, and the media has been phoning them non-stop,” he added.
Earlier yesterday, Mthatha police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Mzukisi Fatyela confirmed a case of kidnapping had been opened at Madeira police station.
Mahlangu’s disappearance set social media circles abuzz yesterday, with friends, activists and other contributors calling for his release.
PAC provincial chairman Khwezi Dalasile said: “We demand that police immediately take action to release Vusi Mahlangu from his kidnappers.
“We would like to ensure the enemies of human progress that the struggle for the emancipation of the poor and the working class will not be intimidated.
“Continued violence against our comrades will only strengthen our resolve to continue with the struggle.”
It also emerged yesterday that striking WSU workers claimed a security guard who was part of the protest had been shot and wounded by other security guards inside the premises yesterday morning.
He was reportedly rushed to the Nelson Mandela Central Hospital after he was shot in the back.
WSU spokeswoman Yonela Tukwayo confirmed the incident but said the guards had been acting in self-defence after the man had produced a knife.
Fatyela could not be reached for comment on the shooting. — sikhon@dispatch.co.za/ abongilem@dispatch.co.za.
Activist in kidnap mystery
Mahlangu, 33, who hails from Mpumalanga, was in town to support striking Walter Sisulu University workers, who are fighting outsourcing at the university.
On the day of his disappearance Mahlangu was due to attend a workers’ meeting at about 10am at WSU’s Nelson Mandela Drive campus. He was apparently kidnapped on his way there.
One of the workers, Monwabisi Nkuzo, later received a WhatsApp message from Mahlangu telling him to open a case of kidnapping. Mahlangu added that he was in a dark room but was unsure if he has been arrested or kidnapped.
Nkuzo showed the Dispatch the conversation thread on his phone.
In one message Nkuzo asks Mahlangu where he is. He responds: “I am not sure leader… its dark here… I can’t see… please open a case of potential kidnapping.”
In another he writes: “I am bleeding. I am not at police station… is too dark here… my phones battery will die soon… I am bleeding nkokeli … bandibethile ababantu .”
Mahlangu’s close friend, WSU fourth-year law student Vuyo Mntonintshi, sent him a message asking where he was at about 11am but never got a response.
He sent another in the afternoon but never received anything back.
Mntonintshi told the Dispatch yesterday that Mahlangu, instrumental in the outsourcing must fall strikes at other universities including Tshwane, Pretoria and Unisa, had arrived in Mthatha last Wednesday.
“We spent time between my rural home in Ncambele and Mbuqe Extension. He left Mbuqe Extension around 10am on Tuesday to come and address workers here.”
Nkuzo said they suspected Mahlangu might have been kidnapped by companies threatened by the protests against outsourcing as they stood to lose millions should the universities agree to stop using the services of private companies.
Mntonintshi declined to give contact numbers for Mahlangu’s family, saying the request not to do so had come from them.
“His family is distraught, as we are, and the media has been phoning them non-stop,” he added.
Earlier yesterday, Mthatha police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Mzukisi Fatyela confirmed a case of kidnapping had been opened at Madeira police station.
Mahlangu’s disappearance set social media circles abuzz yesterday, with friends, activists and other contributors calling for his release.
PAC provincial chairman Khwezi Dalasile said: “We demand that police immediately take action to release Vusi Mahlangu from his kidnappers.
“We would like to ensure the enemies of human progress that the struggle for the emancipation of the poor and the working class will not be intimidated.
“Continued violence against our comrades will only strengthen our resolve to continue with the struggle.”
It also emerged yesterday that striking WSU workers claimed a security guard who was part of the protest had been shot and wounded by other security guards inside the premises yesterday morning.
He was reportedly rushed to the Nelson Mandela Central Hospital after he was shot in the back.
WSU spokeswoman Yonela Tukwayo confirmed the incident but said the guards had been acting in self-defence after the man had produced a knife.
Fatyela could not be reached for comment on the shooting. — sikhon@dispatch.co.za/ abongilem@dispatch.co.za.
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