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Breakthrough in Hawks murder: Two arrested two years after Mathipa's drive-by killing
Two suspects in the 2023 murder of Hawks officer Lieutenant Ngwako Frans Mathipa were arrested on Sunday.
Mathipa, 53, was killed in a drive-by shooting on the N1 highway near Hammanskraal Toll Plaza.
The officer was investigating high-profile cases, including the alleged abduction of an ISIS leader by SANDF members.
The Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) has made a breakthrough, securing arrests in the murder of one of its own nearly two years after the killing.
Full details are yet to be released by the Hawks on the arrests in connection with the 2023 murder of Lieutenant Ngwako Frans Mathipa.
The Hawks have confirmed that two suspects were arrested following an operation on Sunday morning.
The two suspects will appear in the Randburg Magistrate's Court on Monday on charges of murdering Mathipa.
'One was arrested at the OR Tambo Airport after landing, while the other was arrested at their residence. We will be releasing a detailed statement on this shortly,' said Hawks spokesperson Brigadier Thandi Mbambo on Sunday.
Mathipa, who was a lead investigator in cases relating to crimes against the state, was killed in a drive-by shooting on the N1 highway near the Hammanskraal Toll Plaza in August 2023.
The 53-year-old officer, who was shot in the head, lost control of his vehicle, which rolled and landed in a ditch.
READ | Terrorism specialist Hawks officer killed in an ambush, while investigating SANDF members
He was declared dead at the scene.
Mathipa was involved in several high-profile cases, including one involving a syndicate that was behind the illegal sale of electricity vouchers.
According to police, the syndicate was found to have sold electricity vouchers for half price, defrauding Eskom of millions in this prepaid power scam.
Four accused were ultimately found guilty on 16 451 counts of racketeering, electricity theft and theft of a credit dispensing unit.
He was also involved in an investigation involving South African National Defence Force (SANDF) members.
According to a City Press report at the time of his death, Mathipa was the lead investigator in the abduction of Isis leader Abdella Abadinga, who had apparently been kidnapped from the Mall of Africa in Midrand in December 2022, allegedly by members of the SANDF's Special Forces.
