10 SANDF officials arrested for murder of Hawks officer

On June 23, 2025, 10 more South African National Defence Force (SANDF) officials were arrested in connection with the murder and kidnapping of Hawks officer Frans Mathipa. This follows the arrest of two SANDF members on June 22, 2025, bringing the total number of suspects to 12. The arrests are linked to an investigation into Mathipa’s death and related crimes.

Frans Mathipa was a senior officer in the Hawks’ Crimes Against the State unit. He was killed on August 6, 2023, in a drive-by shooting on the N1 highway near Hammanskraal. Unknown assailants drove up next to his car, opened fire, and caused his vehicle to crash into a ditch. Mathipa died at the scene. At the time, he was investigating the kidnapping of Abdella Abadiga, an Ethiopian businessman suspected of ties to ISIS.

Abdella Abadiga and his bodyguard, Kadir Jemal Abotese, were abducted from the Mall of Africa in Johannesburg on December 29, 2022. Abadiga had been listed on a US Treasury Department sanctions list in March 2022 for allegedly funding ISIS. Security footage from the mall showed vehicles registered to Peters Communication, a company connected to the SANDF, leaving the area during the kidnapping. This pointed to SANDF involvement.

In February 2023, Abadiga’s brother, Abdurahim, filed a court application in the Johannesburg High Court. He asked the SANDF and others to reveal Abdella’s location. The SANDF said their presence at the mall was part of a “training exercise” and denied any role in the abduction. The court dismissed the case in April 2023, stating it lacked urgency due to filing delays.

Mathipa’s work on the Abadiga case is thought to have led to his murder. On June 22, 2025, two SANDF members, aged 36 and 51, were arrested for his death. One was caught at OR Tambo International Airport, and the other in Centurion. These arrests marked a step forward in the investigation, which had been ongoing since Mathipa’s killing in 2023.

Recent Arrests of SANDF Officials

The next day, June 23, 2025, 10 more SANDF members turned themselves in to the Hawks. The 12 suspects now face charges including three counts of murder, two counts of kidnapping, obstruction of justice, making false statements under oath, theft, and fraud.

They appeared in the Randburg Magistrate’s Court on June 23, 2025. The court ordered their identities kept secret until an identity parade could be held. The case was postponed to July 1, 2025, for a bail hearing and is likely to move to the high court.

Investigators also took a vehicle tied to one suspect, believed to have been used in the December 2022 kidnapping. The SANDF has rejected claims of a “torture squad” within its ranks, but the after the recent Open Secrets expose, questions about military involvement in crime and possible cover-ups will remain, especially considering the dangers faced by officers like Mathipa when investigating cases tied to state entities.

Bail hearing for the 10 SANDF officials, along with the other two suspects, is set for July 1.