Fees Must Fall activist Bonginkosi Khanyile has been arrested for his alleged role in instigating recent unrest and looting in KwaZulu-Natal, according to News24.
The news platform said it had ‘reliably learnt’ of Khanyile’s arrest, noting that while the Hawks did not confirm his identity, the investigations unit released a statement confirming that it had arrested a 31-year-old man in Johannesburg, and that ‘the suspect was involved in the incitement of public violence through social media and other platforms during the period of unrest in KwaZulu-Natal’.
Hawks spokesperson Colonel Katlego Mogale said in a statement: ‘He was arrested at one of the higher learning institutions in Johannesburg and was escorted to KwaZulu-Natal where he was detained.’
He is to appear in the Durban Magistrate’s Court today.
News24 reported that Khanyile recently spoke on behalf of the Mchunu family at the time of the arrest of former Ukhozi FM personality Ngizwe Mchunu, who was accused of inciting violence linked to the unrest in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.
In the days after former president Jacob Zuma handed himself over to the Estcourt Correctional Centre in July to serve a 15-month jail sentence, Khanyile posted several #FreeJacobZuma tweets.
In January 2019, Khanyile was sentenced to three years under house arrest, and was ordered to submit himself for rehabilitation programmes and pay R5 000 (or serve a three-year prison sentence suspended for five years) for public violence during the #FeesMustFall protests while a student at Durban University of Technology.