Seven members of South Africa's special forces and one military police officer have been charged with murdering Senior police detective Frans Mathipa, who was shot dead while driving home along a motorway outside Pretoria in August 2023.
New Evidence Suggests South African Special Forces Were Behind Detective's Death
Senior police detective Frans Mathipa had been investigating allegations that South Africa's special forces had abducted and killed Abdella Abadigga, an alleged Islamic State militant. Mathipa's car was found overturned two days after he was told he would finally gain access to crucial information in the case.
Mathipa's family, his commanding officer, and South Africa's former head of counter-terrorism in the elite police unit known as "The Hawks" have spoken to the BBC about the events leading up to the detective's death. They present a compelling case that South Africa's special forces are responsible for his murder.
Evidence Against Special Forces
Police documents show that the vehicle that trailed Mathipa just before he was shot was registered to a front company for the special forces. Tracking data found in that vehicle puts it at the scene of the shooting. One of the men in the car, Maj Sunnybooi Wambi, was also spotted at the scene of an alleged abduction carried out by special forces soldiers – the case that Mathipa had been investigating.
A chilling warning was issued to The Hawks after Mathipa's death: "You can appoint 10 investigating officers; we will kill all of them." The case Mathipa had been investigating centred on Abdella Abadigga, an alleged IS militant who had been granted temporary asylum in South Africa in 2008 but was arrested abroad in 2017.
Abduction and Killing of IS Militant
Abadigga had been smuggled back into South Africa by the South African military and Department of Home Affairs to be used as an intelligence asset – but had "gone rogue," according to Col Tollie Vreugdenburg, former head of counter-terrorism in The Hawks. Abadigga had gone on to extort Johannesburg's Ethiopian neighbourhood, sources in the community told the BBC. This money was used to fund IS, says the US government.
Court documents show that after Abadigga's abduction, his phone connected to a mast near a military base. Police sources say it was used to call a number in Somalia. The Pentagon did not respond to the BBC's question on whether Abadigga's phone helped locate al-Sudani, who was killed by US special forces in Somalia in January 2023, only a few weeks after Abadigga's alleged abduction.
Investigation and Charges
The seven members of South Africa's special forces and one military police officer have been charged with murdering Lt Col Mathipa. They deny the charges. There has been no date scheduled for their trial, and there are concerns it will never go ahead, because three of the men charged with his murder have refused to comply with a court order revoking their bail. They are still working for the army's special forces, and one of them has been promoted.
The case has caused consternation in one of Africa's most robust democracies, with fears the country's military is significantly overreaching its mandate. The South African army did not respond to questions about its role in Mathipa's death.
Source: Joy Online
