Two soldiers arrested in connection with murder of Hawks investigator
Two soldiers have been arrested in connection with the murder of a Hawks officer in 2023.
Lt-Col Frans Mathipa was fatally shot while driving on the N1 by assassins who pulled up alongside him and opened fire with an assault rifle.
Mathipa was attached to the Hawks' crimes against the state section within the serious organised crime investigation unit in Gauteng.
The Sunday Times reported he had been investigating the abduction of alleged Isis leader Abdella Abadiga from the Mall of Africa in Johannesburg and was looking into suspicions that SA military special forces were involved.
On Sunday, the Hawks said two suspects, aged 36 and 51, were arrested at Johannesburg's OR Tambo International Airport and in Centurion, Pretoria.
"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 impounded for further forensic investigation," said Hawks spokesperson Lt-Col Christopher Singo.
The suspects are due in court on Monday to face charges of murder and kidnapping.
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