Government must take all measures to find Vusi Mahlangu

31 March 2016

Congress of the People is enraged at the kidnap of student activist Vusi Mahlangu. A case of kidnapping was opened at the Madeira police station in the Eastern Cape. It is shocking that dirty tricks are being employed once again to silence today’s activists. For many of us, it brings back old memories of what happened under the apartheid government. Scores of activist vanished without trace and remain unaccounted for up to the present time. We who thought that those days were gone, need to recognise that as in George Orwell’s Animal Farm, today’s rulers are very keen to rule as PW Botha did.

Every day we witness an erosion of our democracy and an abnegation of the rights enshrined in the Constitution. Young people have awoken to the fact that they have to take destiny in their own hands. In Cape Town, the sons of Frank Chikane, Max Price, Thabo Makgoba and Wim Trengrove had charges against them withdrawn. At one point these young highly privileged protesters, making a common stand with their less fortunate fellow students, were being threatened with a charge of treason. That is as serious as it gets. Vusi Mahlangu’s disappearance shows that young protesters are being targeted in different ways. Who is orchestrating this kidnap?

When the ‘FeesMustFall’ campaign was in full swing, Blade Nzimande, David Mahlobo and Kebby Maphatsoe attributed what was happening on our university campuses to a third force seeking regime change. Is it possible that the state itself is involved in setting up such a third force to deal with dissident students? Things are beginning to become extremely murky and worrisome.

Congress of the People calls on all student formations, all civil society organizations and every political party to unite in demanding a massive government effort to find Vusi Mahlangu. We must never allow the kidnap of young leaders to happen in our country.

Issued by Dennis Bloem, COPE Spokesperson, 31 March 2016