Hawks Lieutenant Colonel Frans Mathipa was shot dead in August 2023 while investigating a sensitive abduction and murder case.
The murder of Hawks Lieutenant Colonel Frans Mathipa has taken a dramatic turn after a BBC World Service investigation alleged that members of South Africa’s special forces may have been involved in his killing while he was investigating a sensitive abduction and murder case.
Mathipa, a senior detective in the Hawks, was shot dead in August 2023 after spending months trying to obtain information linked to the investigation, according to the BBC. The broadcaster reported that prosecutors have charged seven special forces members and one military police officer with his murder. All of the accused deny the charges, and no trial date has yet been set.
The BBC said it had obtained access to hundreds of pages of police and court documents, as well as interviews with investigators, former Hawks officials, Mathipa’s commanding officer and members of his family.
According to the broadcaster, the prosecution case includes evidence that a vehicle allegedly linked to a special forces front company was following Mathipa shortly before he was killed. The BBC reported that tracking data placed that vehicle at the scene of the shooting, while one of the men allegedly connected to it had also been linked to an earlier abduction investigation that Mathipa had been pursuing.
