Latest news with #FransMathipa
Daily Maverick
3 hours ago
- Politics
- Daily Maverick
The Frans Mathipa case: Ramaphosa's ultimate hot potato
The arrest last week of seven members of the SANDF for the murder of Hawks investigator Frans Mathipa raises many questions about the real motive for his murder. But it could also lead to incredibly troubling questions about the situation in the SANDF, and whether its current leadership knew the truth when they denied there was a squad in the force that tortured and murdered people. In December 2023, the head of the SANDF, General Rudzani Maphwanya, was categoric. 'For the record,' he said, 'there are no military squads in the defence force that exist to carry out acts of torture and murder, for whatever reasons. The SANDF stands for the defence and the protection of the people and will always act within the confines of the law and the Constitution.' But last week 12 people under his ultimate command were arrested in connection with the murder of Hawks investigator Frans Mathipa. As Open Secrets has explained, Mathipa was investigating the illegal and violent abduction of the Ethiopian national Abdella Hussein Abadiga from the Mall of Africa in December 2022. Open Secrets has also linked cars used in that abduction to vehicles at the Simon's Town dock when the Russian vessel the Lady R docked there. These vehicles are known to be owned by the Special Forces unit of the SANDF. Also, it has been pointed out that Mathipa was shot dead while driving a moving car, a hit that reportedly could only be carried out by someone with military training. There are so many questions around this, some of which may force President Cyril Ramaphosa to act. The importance of this cannot be overstated. This is a group of Special Forces soldiers who are accused of killing a senior police investigator. It would seem likely the Police Minister Senzo Mchunu would have informed the Defence Minister Angie Motshekga what the Hawks were going to do before they made last week's arrests. And both might well have informed Ramaphosa. For the moment, it appears the system worked, the police were able to make the arrests and faced no violent opposition. Considering that these are members of a Special Forces unit, this is no small victory. But it is only the beginning of where this could lead. What did Maphwanya know? It would appear the best case scenario here is that when Maphwanya issued his denial he genuinely did not know the truth. Even if that is the case, a Commander-in-Chief might well be entitled to demand answers about how he did not know. It might not be enough to rely on reports that are kept secret. A democratically elected head of state would want to know how Maphwanya was unaware, and how he could make sure this would not happen again. But this is the best-case scenario. Most of the others are worse. If Maphwanya knew about these activities then he surely cannot stay in the job. It would be proof that he is prepared to allow people under his command to kill police officers. Important reporting over the weekend by News 24's Erika Gibson shows the SANDF is going to pay for this squad's legal defense, including briefing senior counsel. This might well suggest that Maphwanya, or at least the institution he heads, is either going to argue these men had a proper motive that he sanctioned, or that they are not guilty (in which case, which militarily trained assassin killed Maphwanya?) There are other scenarios that are not as bad as that, but still pose problems. It has been claimed that when Abadiga was abducted, the US Treasury Department had put him on a sanctions list, and that he was seen as a person allegedly affiliated to Isis. Nearly 20 years ago, in 2006, a man called Khalid Rashid was accused of being connected to terrorist networks. He was a Pakistani national who was living in Estcourt in KwaZulu-Natal. When he disappeared the lawyer Zehir Omar launched a series of court cases forcing Home Affairs to reveal where he was. Through a series of court rulings and one or two strange incidents (including a document that mysteriously arrived in Omar's food hamper) it was eventually confirmed that Rashid had been extraordinarily renditioned. In other words, he had been removed from the country at the request of American and British intelligence agencies. Perhaps Abadiga suffered a similar fate. And while that would be illegal, it might well fall under the ambit of the SANDF trying to protect South Africans from threats. Some people might accept that explanation. Maybe. But this still does not explain the other claim against this SANDF unit, that it was involved in torture. The case of Pule Nkomo, who told Open Secrets how he had been tortured, might suggest there is more to this unit than just the Abadiga case. A relatively small incident might well suggest this group has a pattern of breaking the law. Among the charges they face is one of fraud. They lodged a claim with Outsurance claiming the BMW that they used in the alleged hit had been stolen. One might have some sympathy for the insurance investigators at Outsurance. Are they really going to probe what this unit was doing? If it is the same group of people who were involved, this shows a particular pattern. And if it was a pattern, then it would seem incredible that Maphwanya did not know what this group was doing. SANDF vs SAPS Within all of this is another set of complicated dynamics. There is a general perception that the SAPS will deal with people within South Africa, while the SANDF will protect those people from threats from outside the country. Of course, this line is often blurred, and citizens themselves demanded the SANDF help protect them during the violence in July 2021. And the SANDF has a constitutional duty to protect South Africans. The stakes here are incredibly high. The SANDF and the SAPS are the two biggest organisations that employ people and give them firearms. For one to attack the other, as this unit is alleged to have done in killing Hawks investigator Mathipa, may have the potential to spiral out of control. It is important to remember that the fact that the SAPS were able to make these arrests shows this prospect is incredibly unlikely. But it has happened in other countries with disastrous results. In Lesotho the police and the military ended up on opposite sides of a political dispute. In at least one case there was a shootout between members of the two groups. The person who can play the biggest role in ensuring that this does not happen is obviously Ramaphosa. He might well need to ask serious questions around Maphwanya. As usual, the most important questions will probably be: What did Maphwanya know? And when did Maphwanya know it? But for the moment it appears that he is supporting people who are accused of killing a senior member of the police. This issue will not go away. Instead it will require active political management. Ramaphosa may have to make decisions that he, or any leader, would rather avoid. DM
Eyewitness News
18 hours ago
- Eyewitness News
NPA confirms 12 murder-accused SANDF members facing two other counts of murder
Nokukhanya Mntambo 2 July 2025 | 6:52 South African National Defence Force (SANDF) Murder SANDF army defence force soldiers JOHANNESBURG - The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has confirmed that the 12 South African National Defence Force (SANDF) members charged with the 2023 murder of a Hawks' investigator are also facing two other counts of murder. Frans Mathipa was shot in the head on the N1 near Hammanskraal, while probing claims that some members of the SANDF special forces were behind the abduction of two foreign nationals at the Mall of Africa. The group appeared before the Randburg Magistrates Court in Johannesburg on Tuesday, where new details about the case emerged. At the time of his murder, Hawks investigator Mathipa had applied for a Section 205 subpoena to get classified documents that could shed some light on the 2022 kidnapping. According to Open Secrets, on or before the deadline for the SANDF to respond to the application, Mathipa and army officials had agreed to halt the process while they negotiated access to the requested information. The SANDF maintains that the operatives were at the Mall of Africa on 29 December 2022, for a training exercise and that the abduction of an alleged ISIS associate and his bodyguard was a coincidence. While it was never confirmed at the time, the NPA's spokesperson in Gauteng, Phindi Mjonondwane, said the kidnapped men may have also been killed by the special forces. 'I can just give a hint to say that we'll be relying on the case of Francis Rasuge in proving the other two murder charges, that's as far as we can go.' The 12 accused are set to be back in court for a continuation of their bail hearing on Thursday. The SANDF has consistently denied claims that the special forces unit is rogue, adding that claims of torture, illegal arrests, and murder are untrue. Already in the dock for the 2023 murder of Hawks investigator Frans Mathipa - NPA GP spox Phindi Mjonondwane has confirmed 2 more murder charges for the 12 SANDF special forces linked to the disappearance of an ISIS associate and his bodyguard taken from the Mall of Africa. — EWN Reporter (@ewnreporter) July 1, 2025
IOL News
a day ago
- IOL News
Bail delayed for SANDF soldiers accused of killing Ethiopian nationals and Hawks investigator
CCTV footage submitted to the High Court in Johannesburg shows Ethiopian businessman and suspected ISIS funder Abdella Hussein Abadiga and his bodyguard Kadir Jemal Abotese inside Mall of Africa before they vanished on 29 December 2022. Image: Abdurahim Hussein Abadiga The Randburg Magistrates' Court postponed the bail application of 12 South African National Defence Force (SANDF) members to Thursday, to allow for the verification of their residential addresses. The accused 12 soldiers face multiple serious charges, including three counts of murder, kidnapping, fraud, obstruction of justice, perjury, and theft of a motor vehicle. The charges stem from the alleged kidnapping of Ethiopian businessman and suspected ISIS funder Abdella Hussain Abadiga and his bodyguard Kadir Jemal Abotese on 29 December 2022 at Mall of Africa in Midrand. National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Gauteng regional spokesperson, Phindi Mjonondwane, said the victims were reportedly abducted from the Midrand mall and taken to the Zwartkop Military Base, and their whereabouts remain unknown. 'The accused are also linked to the assassination of Lieutenant Colonel Frans Mathipa, a Hawks officer investigating the kidnapping. Mathipa was fatally shot on 6 August 2023 on the N1 Highway by individuals reportedly driving a SANDF vehicle,' said Mjonondwane. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad Loading When Lieutenant Colonel Frans Mathipa was shot dead in 2023, he was probing allegations that members of the SANDF Special Forces had abducted two people including an Ethiopian businessman and suspected ISIS leader from the Mall of Africa. Image: SAPS During the court proceedings on Tuesday, the defence submitted affidavits in which the accused deny any involvement in the incidents. A statement from their commanding officer was also submitted in support of the bail application. Mjonondwane said the NPA views the matter in a serious light, given the nature of the charges and the potential threat to the administration of justice. The accused SANDF members were arrested in June. IOL previously reported that some of the soldiers were arrested at different places, including the OR Tambo International Airport and Centurion in Tshwane. Following the arrests, spokesperson for the Hawks, Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Singo, stated that the arrests were carried out by members of the Johannesburg-based Hawks' Serious Organised Crime Investigation, the headquarters' Serious Organised Crime Investigation, and the Tactical Operations Management Section (Toms). 'The arrests are linked to the murder of Lieutenant Colonel Frans Mathipa, who was fatally shot while driving on the N1 highway near Hammanskraal on August 6, 2023. Following the shooting, his vehicle lost control and veered into a ditch,' Singo said. Mathipa, who was attached to the Hawks' Crimes Against the State Unit within the Serious Organised Crime Investigation in Gauteng, was on duty conducting an investigation at the time of his death. CCTV footage submitted to the High Court in Johannesburg shows Ethiopian businessman and suspected ISIS funder Abdella Hussein Abadiga and his bodyguard Kadir Jemal Abotese inside Mall of Africa before they vanished on 29 December 2022. Image: Abdurahim Hussein Abadiga Get your news on the go, click here to join the IOL News WhatsApp channel. IOL News
IOL News
2 days ago
- IOL News
Will they get bail? 12 SANDF members in court over murder of Hawks investigator Frans Mathipa
When Lieutenant Colonel Frans Mathipa was shot dead in 2023, he was probing allegations that members of the SANDF Special Forces had abducted an Ethiopian businessman and suspected ISIS leader from the Mall of Africa. Image: SAPS The Randburg Magistrate's Court in Johannesburg is set to hear the bail application of 12 members of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) implicated in the brutal murder of Lieutenant Colonel Frans Mathipa - a specialist investigator at the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, also known as the Hawks. The 12 SANDF members are facing serious charges of murder and kidnapping after Mathipa was shot dead while travelling on the N1 near Hammanskraal in August 2023. The accused SANDF members were arrested in June. IOL previously reported that some of the soldiers were arrested at different places, including the OR Tambo International Airport and Centurion in Tshwane. Following the arrests, spokesperson for the Hawks, Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Singo, stated that the arrests were carried out by members of the Johannesburg-based Hawks' Serious Organised Crime Investigation, the headquarters' Serious Organised Crime Investigation, and the Tactical Operations Management Section (Toms). 'The arrests are linked to the murder of Lieutenant Colonel Frans Mathipa, who was fatally shot while driving on the N1 highway near Hammanskraal on August 6, 2023. Following the shooting, his vehicle lost control and veered into a ditch,' Singo said. Mathipa, who was attached to the Hawks' Crimes Against the State Unit within the Serious Organised Crime Investigation in Gauteng, was on duty conducting an investigation at the time of his death. Singo said a vehicle seized has also been linked to a separate crime. 'During the operation, police also seized a vehicle belonging to the 36-year-old suspect. The vehicle is alleged to have been used in the kidnapping of two male foreign nationals at a mall in Midrand on December 29, 2022. It has since been impounded for further forensic investigation,' Singo said. According to reports, at the time of his death, Mathipa was probing allegations that members of the SANDF Special Forces unit abducted an Ethiopian businessman and suspected ISIS leader from the Mall of Africa in Midrand in 2022. Get your news on the go, click here to join the IOL News WhatsApp channel. [email protected] IOL News
Daily Maverick
25-06-2025
- Politics
- Daily Maverick
Russian Doll revisited: Will the SANDF's ‘dirty dozen' expose the top brass?
The assassination of top Hawks official Lieutenant Colonel Frans Mathipa seemed destined, until this week, to remain a cold case – another high-profile murder that is politically simply too hot to handle. This underscores the magnitude of the breakthrough in the case, led by Hawks investigators, that has culminated this week in a prosecution process targeting 12 SANDF officials. They stand charged with the murder of Mathipa, two other unnamed individuals and numerous other crimes. In a country so accustomed to rough justice, we have come to expect state institutions to be either unable or unwilling to hold the very powerful to account. From apartheid killers to State Capture titans and any number of criminals embedded in the country's political and economic elite, impunity has the risk of becoming systemic. With the case against 12 South African National Defence Force (SANDF) officials arrested for the murder of Lieutenant Colonel Frans Mathipa, we have an opportunity to change that. The crimes Open Secrets' four-part Russian Doll investigation, published by Daily Maverick in 2023, highlights a harrowing tale which links members of South Africa's elite Special Forces to the assassination of Frans Mathipa as well as to separate instances of torture of civilians and possibly at least one other murder. Open Secrets exists to investigate the economic crimes of the powerful, focused on private actors. However, when we started an investigation of possible sanctions busting involving the Lady R vessel, we uncovered a much broader network of abuse and criminal activity involving the SANDF. We crossed lines in terms of our mandate because it is in the public interest to do so. While every one of these alleged crimes is significant, the murder of Mathipa demands our attention because members of an elite unit within the SANDF stand accused of turning their guns on a top cop. It represents a breakdown of the constitutional order and the rule of law. When officers in uniform kill one another with the intention of covering up other crimes, it is only logical to assume that they will turn their guns and the power of the state against civilians. What the Open Secrets investigation has shown is a pattern of abuse of power within the SANDF involving multiple units, including Special Forces, Defence Intelligence, the Military Police and Defence Legal Services. We have linked at least one Special Forces officer whom Mathipa was investigating for the abduction of two civilians from the Mall of Africa – Colonel Sunnybooi Pinny Wambi – to allegations of torture and even murder. One of the people who has been the focus of ongoing investigations by the Hawks has been described to us by a senior law enforcement official as being akin to notorious apartheid political assassin Eugene de Kock. It suggests we are now mimicking the very worst violence of the late apartheid state when death squads prowled the streets. All this begs the question of whether their activities might have extended to other assassinations? Might some of these have been political in nature, involving internal party squabbles, political dirty tricks or money heists to shore up funds for election campaigns? While we do not currently have the answer to these questions, the prosecution of the SANDF's 'dirty dozen' might open a can of worms that many powerful people would wish remained secret. The cover-up Following the publication of the Russian Doll investigation in Daily Maverick and an exposé by Carte Blanche based on the same investigation, the Chief of the SANDF General Rudzani Maphwanya called a rambling press conference in December 2023 at which he accused Open Secrets and Daily Maverick of fabricating stories and the prosecutable offence 'an act of defeating the ends of justice'. However, at the same press conference, Chief of Defence Intelligence Major General Thalita Mxakato confirmed the existence of a 2023 internal SANDF board of inquiry report that examined allegations by concerned SANDF whistle-blowers of corruption and abuse of power, including torture within the SANDF. Open Secrets had made public the existence of this report, compiled by Brigadier General Moorhouse, as part of our investigation (the 'Morehouse Report'). We submitted access to information requests to the Department of Defence for a copy of this report, which were flatly ignored for well over a year. In April 2025, we were informed that the SANDF was now considering this request. At this stage, it seems that the SANDF has failed its legal obligation to respond timeously in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act, inviting further legal steps against it. The politicians, who exercise ultimate oversight over the SANDF, have been informed of various allegations of wrongdoing by Open Secrets but have ignored our pleas that they intervene to prevent the abuse of power. We wrote to then Minister of Defence Thandi Modise in August 2023. We followed that up with a letter to President Cyril Ramaphosa in December 2023 and again in December 2024 – to which we never received a substantive response. As a result, none of their office can deny knowledge of these abuses. Promotion for an alleged torturer What accountability has there been for the individuals linked to abductions, torture and abuse? Until now, very little. This again shows that the SANDF has done nothing to deal with a very real problem within its ranks. This serves to stain the reputation of the many honest and hard-working members of the SANDF. In one instance, a military officer linked to torture was subsequently promoted. A post on the SANDF's Instagram account in February 2025 records that one of the lead 'torturers' – Military Police official Lieutenant-Colonel Doris Netshanzhe was promoted to the position of military attaché this year. This promotion is likely to lead to a plum posting in another country, which will send her to an as yet unnamed South African diplomatic mission to hob-nob with diplomats, foreign militaries and live a life of comfort at the public's expense. As we showed in Russian Doll 3, Doris Netshanzhe – nicknamed 'Mama Skebenga' (Mama Gangster) – was the active co-participant, with Sunnybooi Wambi, in the torture of a man we know only as 'Sphamandla' at the Military police bar at Thaba Tshwane military base in February 2020. According to witness accounts, Sphamandla died that night as a result of his injuries and his body was possibly buried in the grounds of the Special Forces headquarters outside Pretoria. A test for the President The prosecution of the SANDF 'dirty dozen' represents a significant political challenge for Ramaphosa. The commander in chief has been informed of abuses within the military. He has also known that officers within the SANDF have been implicated in the murder of a top police officer. He and the politicians in the Ministry of Defence and the parliamentary defence committee have not lifted a finger in public to call for the suspension of implicated officers. The military top brass have either remained silent or simply denied any allegations of abuse. Their collective silence risks making the political establishment accomplices to these crimes if they do nothing to address this. At the very least, one or more generals should be dismissed for this inaction and the President needs to consider why the chief of the SANDF has done so little to tackle this — and hold him accountable. All of this underscores the extraordinary public importance of the prosecution of the SANDF's 'dirty dozen' and the work of the Hawks and prosecutors in bringing these matters to court. They will no doubt face intense backroom pressure to drop these charges. This represents a test for our democratic state and demands vigilance to ensure that all those implicated are held to account. Ultimately, we need to ensure that not only are the perpetrators held to account, but also the system of cover-up and silence which has enabled it. We owe this to victims and their families. DM Open Secrets is a non-profit organisation which exposes and builds accountability for private-sector economic crimes through investigative research, advocacy and the law. To support our work, visit Support Open Secrets.
