By Lesedi Sibiya-Diplomatic Insider

Frans Mathipa who served as Hawks Lieutenant was tragically murdered and the case of the matter has taken a new turn of events as a BBC World Service investigation has now alleged that the murder of Frans Mathipa was at the hands of South African special forces operatives while he was investigating an abduction and murder case.

Mathipa was shot dead in August 2023, after he had spent many gruelling months investigating the case and trying to obtain the information linked to the investigation, according to the BBC.

 BBC had reported that prosecutors have now charged seven special forces members and one military police officer with Mathipa’s murder. The people in question who are accused have actively denied these allegations and as of yet there is no set trial date.

The BBC has expressed that they have in possession hundreds of pages of court and police documents as well interviews from former Hawks officials, and members of Mathipa’s family. Within the prosecution case there is evidence that a vehicle that was allegedly linked to Special Forces was following Mathipa moments before he was murdered.

The BBC reported that tracking data had placed that vehicle at the scene of the shooting, while one of the men that was connected to the vehicle had been linked to another abduction investigation that was being pursued by Mathipa.

 The central figure in the investigation was the abduction of Ethiopian National Abdella Abadigga, whom the BBC had been informed by former Hawks officials that he had been used as an intelligence asset before he had gone missing in late 2022.

 Mathipa had it on good authority that Abadigga’s abduction had been conducted by military personnel. The South African Military have not responded to questions from the BBC about the allegations, while South African president Cyril Ramaphosa has declined to comment on a plethora of matters which are related to the investigation.

The allegations from BBC have yet to be tested in the court of law.