At Fort Hare, his efforts to combat corruption lead to threats that culminated in a January 2023 assassination attempt that killed his bodyguard.

[1] Buhlungu earned his Bachelor of Arts in 1982 at the University of Transkei and worked as a teacher at Manzana High School in Engcobo in the Eastern Cape from 1983 to 1984.

[1] Buhlungu obtained a BA honours in African studies at the University of Cape Town (UCT) in the 1985–1986 academic year.

[2] Buhlungu resumed his graduate studies in 1992 and transitioned from a functionary position in his union to an editorial one, becoming the editor of COSATU's Shopsteward journal.

[2][4][8] Buhlungu's PhD thesis focused on the tensions between democratic control and organisational efficiency in running trade unions.

[1] In January 2008, Buhlungu resigned from Wits after he felt that his concerns about corruption and theft by the sociology department's administrative staff were rejected.

[11] Later, Buhlungu became a professor at the University of Pretoria, where he was appointed deputy dean for postgraduate studies and ethics in the faculty of humanities in November 2012 for a term starting in January 2013.

[1] Buhlungu joined the University of Cape Town in November 2013 to familiarize himself with the institution before his appointment as dean of the faculty of humanities the following February.

Loyiso Nongxa, former Wits vice-chancellor was appointed as administrator, while Buhlungu remained as vice chancellor and retained his responsibility over managing university affairs.

[17][18] An independent assessment prepared for Nongxa by Chris Brink and Louis Molamu cleared Buhlungu of the whistleblower allegations in a December 2019 report.

[22] Two months later, in May 2022, Buhlungu’s former fleet and transport manager, Petrus Roets, was killed in a suspected hit job after he testified in a disciplinary hearing against a fellow employee.

[25] Other officials condemning the attack included Blade Nzimande, the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology; Oscar Mabuyane, the Eastern Cape Premier; and Professor Sibongile Muthwa, the chairperson of Universities South Africa.

[22] On 11 January, Nzimande announced that Fort Hare would be one of the universities studied in-depth by an upcoming task force on post-secondary education safety and security.