More questions than answers about Vusi Mahlangu’s “kidnapping”
”Disconnect” between cell phone location and where he said he was
Activist Vusi ‘Oldman’ Mahlangu, who disappeared under mysterious circumstances last week, and reappeared on social media on 2 April, has been arrested and will be charged with perjury and defeating the ends of justice. This was confirmed by Mthatha police spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Mzukisi Fatyela this morning.
“[He] has been arrested last night and detained at the Mthatha police station. The police are still charging him formally,” said Fatyela.
Mahlangu is a UNISA student living in Kayamandi, Pretoria. He was in the Eastern Cape to help organise outsourced Walter Sisulu University workers.
When Mahlangu disappeared last week Tuesday he sent a message saying “I am either kidnapped or arrested and I am bleeding …In a dark place at Mthatha‚ my phone is about to die.”
News of the alleged abduction spread fast, with the hashtag #bringbackVusi making waves on Twitter.
Allegations circulated on social media that he had been abducted by private security at the university.
Vuyo Mntonintshi, who was one of the first people to sound the call of Mahlangu’s disappearance, told GroundUp that he received a call this morning telling him that Mahlangu had been detained. “He was in a meeting all yesterday in East London with the Hawks,” said Mntonintshi.
Calling the arrest “shocking” and “frustrating”, Mntonintshi said he wondered how the arrest would affect the momentum of the end outsourcing campaign.
He said that the members of the end outsourcing campaign were letting the law take its course.
“[As Mahlangu] has been under investigation [I] can’t comment much. We are also meeting with the Hawks today,” said Mntonintshi adding that the Hawks were expected to provide further information.
Leigh-Ann Naidoo who was also involved in finding Mahlangu said that she had spoken to him yesterday morning and that he said he was recovering from his injuries.
Naidoo told GroundUp that “no matter what the truth” Mahlangu has not given any statement explaining what happened, adding that it was a “concerning time”. Naidoo explained that Mahlangu was meant to speak to the Hawks and then brief the press but that he was unable to do that latter as he was arrested.
Sheena Jonker, who is the founder of Access to Justice, said that after Mahlangu went missing the organisation received a request for assistance finding him. Access to Justice then organised a private investigator to aid in the matter. She said that the investigator, Dino Brown, worked closely with SAPS and the Hawks in order to put pressure on the police to find Mahlangu.
She told GroundUp that she “cannot comment on the substance of the matter with any significant degree of clarity at present. The surrounding circumstances are confusing.”
Last night Jonker spoke with the attorney working with Mahlangu and was told that after Mahlangu made his statement to the police he was arrested.
“It seems the police feel that there is a disconnect between where they traced [his] cellphone and where he said he was,” explained Jonker.
On 2 April Mahlangu posted a statement on his Facebook page saying that he had been “released” from what he described as a “dark interrogation chamber”.
“Greetings Azania and the world. A lot has happened since one was taken to that dark interrogation chamber and it will require more time for me to comment on them. All I can say now is THANK YOU VERY MUCH people of Azania, Africa and the world for ensuring that I am released from that chamber,” wrote Mahlangu, saying that a “detailed account” would be coming soon.
In the following days GroundUp attempted to uncover Mahlangu’s whereabouts but Mntonintshi and Shaheed Mohamed, who was also involved in the finding of Mahlangu, were only able to confirm that Mahlangu had been found.
The mystery continued as Mahlangu failed to release a statement explaining what happened during his alleged abduction and also failed to present himself to the police to confirm that he was no longer missing, leading the police to continue their search for him even after he had announced himself as safe.
Attempts by GroundUp to contact Mahlangu before he was arrested were unsuccessful.
© 2016 GroundUp. 
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