A Fedusa-affiliated union stated that a member, who works at the University of Fort Hare, was tortured in front of his family by a gang of cops whose operational style is highly questionable.
According to the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU), a member of the union was kidnapped from his East London house in the company of his family and allegedly tortured for hours as a suspected murder suspect by persons posing as police.
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Grant Abbott, the general secretary of the NTEU, and members of Fedusa met the media on Wednesday, stating that they wanted to bring the matter to the public’s notice.
He said that the alleged torture took place against the backdrop of an assassination probe at the University of Fort Hare while adding that the incident occurred on Sunday, April 23, 2023.
The university has yet to reply to the claims made during the news conference on Wednesday and the unions declined to reveal the member’s identity, claiming that doing so would jeopardise their allegations against the alleged torturers.
Abbott stated that the member was kidnapped, assaulted, and tortured, then threatened and released with the threat of death if the crime was reported to authorities for investigation.
According to the union, it undertook a thorough private investigation that led to the discovery of countless more victims who had been kidnapped and tortured in a similar manner by the same group of police officers.
“It is not known whether this group of police is operating outside the law, and is thus rogue in nature or whether it is some or other covert unit that has exceeded its authority. But in any event, it constitutes disturbing behaviour and the perpetrators need to be brought to book,” the union says.
He stated that the probe had led to the identification of several of the police officers and that the union had images and comprehensive information about their identities.
Abbott claimed the union had enough evidence to arrest the perpetrators and had spoken with the director of public prosecutions in charge of the Fort Hare investigation.
“We have provided him with the evidence that we have accumulated to ensure that a proper and professional investigation into this most disturbing event takes place.
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“It is also our intention to make representations to the Independent Police Investigative Directorate to investigate this matter urgently,” Abbott said.
When asked about the evidence and the lawsuit, the union’s legal representative, Graig Jessop, stated that the details of the evidence would not be shared with the public at this stage, but, assured that the director of public prosecutions has said that the case will be taken seriously.
