Bail application of 12 SANDF members accused of murdering Hawks investigator postponed

JOHANNESBURG - The 12 defence force members accused of murder, kidnapping and fraud will spend at least another week behind bars before a judgment on their bail application. 

This follows their arrest at the end of June for their alleged involvement in the murder of Hawks investigator, Frans Mathipa. 

Mathipa was assassinated in August 2023 while investigating the army’s special forces link to a kidnapping case and possibly a double murder.

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The State in the case said that at this stage, the motive in the kidnapping of Abdella Abadiga and his bodyguard was unknown but said that there were call records that tied one of the accused to Abadiga. 

The State believes that after the pair was abducted by the special forces, they were taken to an undisclosed army base where they were killed. 

Mathipa was allegedly killed by the same soldiers in a cover up. 

The State said that the violence and precision of Mathipa’s murder should be enough for the court to deny them bail. 

The defence said that the claims of premeditated murder and a deliberate attempt not to cooperate with Hawks investigations were untrue. 

The special forces maintains it was at the Mall of Africa for a training exercise and that they had no knowledge of the abduction and the murders that followed. 

The matter was postponed to next Friday for a bail outcome.