The BBC has been given exclusive access to evidence, including secret police and court documents, suggesting that South African special forces soldiers murdered a senior police detective investigating alleged military misconduct. Lt Col Frans Mathipa, a respected officer with The Hawks elite police unit, was shot dead in August 2023 while driving home, days after being told he would gain access to crucial evidence in his case. The affair has alarmed observers in South Africa, raising fears that the military is overstepping its authority in one of Africa's more stable democracies.

Seven special forces members and one military police officer have been charged with Mathipa's murder and deny the charges, but no trial date has been set, and three of the accused have defied a court order revoking their bail while continuing to serve in the army's special forces, with one reportedly promoted. Documents show a vehicle linked to a special forces front company tracked Mathipa before the shooting, and a soldier seen at the scene was also linked to an alleged abduction Mathipa had been investigating, involving an Ethiopian man accused of extorting a Johannesburg community to fund the Islamic State group. Police say special forces later warned The Hawks: "You can appoint 10 investigating officers; we will kill all of them." South Africa's army did not respond to the BBC's request for comment.