Senior police detective shot dead during investigation into South Africa’s special forces

Lt Col Frans Mathipa, who worked for The Hawks, was shot dead while investigating the abduction of a suspected Islamic State operative by South Africa’s special forces.

Seven members of South Africa’s special forces and one military police officer have been charged with murdering Mathipa in August 2023.

This is the subject of a new documentary, Anatomy of a Cover-up, from BBC World Service’s investigative unit, BBC Africa Eye.

This documentary draws on access to evidence and insider testimony to examine whether a detective’s pursuit of the truth cost him his life.

It puts together the events that led to one of the most explosive criminal cases in modern South African history.

Senior police detective Mathipa had been fighting for four months to gain access to a piece of information in the case he was working on.

This case focused on the abduction of a suspected Islamic State operative by South Africa’s special forces.

He was told it would come his way. Two days later, his car was found overturned, and he had been shot dead while driving on a highway outside Pretoria.

Several hundred pages of secret police and court documents, shared with the BBC World Service, set out the evidence suggesting special forces killed Mathipa.

BBC Africa Eye has also interviewed sources in the police investigation to build the most comprehensive account yet of the events leading up to the detective’s death.

These sources include South Africa’s former head of counter-terrorism in The Hawks, Mathipa’s commanding officer, and Mathipa’s family.

The BBC investigation presents a case that South Africa’s special forces are responsible for his murder.

Seven members of South Africa’s special forces and one military police officer have been charged with murdering Lt Col Mathipa in August 2023. They deny the charges.

The case has caused consternation in one of Africa’s most robust democracies, with fears that the country’s military is significantly overreaching its mandate.

No date has been scheduled for their trial, and there are concerns that this sensitive case will never proceed.

This, the BBC said, was 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 BBC World Service said.

After Mathipa’s death, special forces issued a chilling warning to The Hawks, the police documents say.

“You can appoint 10 investigating officers. We will kill all of them,” said the warning, according to police.