Civil society asks Ramaphosa to block murder-accused Solly Lechoenyo’s Special Forces promotion

Staff Reporter

Public Interest SA has written to President Cyril Ramaphosa asking for his urgent intervention in the promotion and continued placement of Brigadier General Solly Lechoenyo as General Officer Commanding the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) Special Forces, while he faces serious criminal charges.

Lechoenyo – whose appointment to lead Special Forces took effect on 1 January — is one of six SANDF Special Forces members, alongside Edward Albert van Devent, Herbert Mashego, Jacob Mokoena, Richard Mpoetsi and Olyn Lenardus , who appeared in the Randburg Magistrate’s Court this week as part of a group of 12 Special Forces soldiers charged with the murder of Lieutenant-Colonel Frans Mathipa.

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Mathipa was a senior Hawks officer with the unit that investigates crimes against the state at the time of his death. He was shot dead on the N1 near