State accuses SANDF special forces of elaborate cover-up in murder of Hawks investigator Mathipa
Mathipa was assassinated in August 2023 while investigating the alleged abduction of two foreign nationals from the Mall of Africa a few months earlier.
- South African National Defence Force (SANDF)
- Frans Matipa
- Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks)
SANDF army defence force soldiers
JOHANNESBURG - The State in the case against 12 national defence force members has accused the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) special forces of an elaborate cover-up in the murder of Hawks investigator, Frans Mathipa.
Mathipa was assassinated in August 2023 while investigating the alleged abduction of two foreign nationals from the Mall of Africa a few months earlier.
A preliminary probe had led Mathipa to the doorstep of some army officials who are now accused of his murder.
The 12 men appeared at the Randburg Magistrates Court for a continuation of their bail hearing on Thursday.
READ: State in 12 murder-accused SANDF members case paints grim picture of army's special forces
In 2023, Mathipa was roped in to probe the disappearance of an alleged ISIS associate, Abdella Abadiga, and his bodyguard.
The State said that the questions Mathipa asked about why the members of the SANDF special forces were at the same place, at the same time as the pair when they disappeared, made the army unhappy.
It said that the special forces unit deliberately evaded Mathipa’s attempts to get more information about their possible link, and by putting pressure on investigators to drop the probe, to salvage the relationship between law enforcers.
When all else failed, the State said the army unit went as far as killing Mathipa to silence him.
All the accused have denied this.
The bail hearing has been postponed to Friday for closing arguments.