The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) claims it was conducting a “training exercise” at the Mall of Africa on the day alleged Islamic state recruiter and funder Abdella Hussein Abadiga was believed to have been snatched.
Maj-Gen Herbert Mashego told the Gauteng high court in Johannesburg through his responding affidavit that he, minister of defence Thandi Modise and SANDF-linked Peter’s Communication Trust, of which he is the director, have no knowledge of the allegations pertaining to the disappearance of Abadiga and his bodyguard Kadir Jemal Abotese, and said they played no part in their kidnapping.
Mashego said SANDF Special Forces conducted a training exercise at the Mall of Africa in Midrand on December 29 2022, the same day Abadiga and Abotese went missing.
“This type of exercise is conducted from time to time at shopping malls, airports and other strategic business premises visited by members of the public. The purpose of this training exercise is to have intimate knowledge of the mall and its surroundings with a view to have a plan to train Special Forces members to evacuate members of the public, dignitaries and other people in the event of any emergency situation and to train members on ways in which quick exit routes out of the mall can be created,” he said.
Mashego, general officer commanding the SA Infantry Formation, said due to the sensitive nature of the operations, he was unable to detail the facts of such exercises.
At the time of the incident Mashego was the general officer commanding SANDF’s Special Forces, and as such he deposed his affidavit on behalf of Modise and Peter’s Communication Trust, which were cited in an urgent court application brought before the high court last week by Abadiga’s brother, Abdurahim Abadiga. Abdurahim approached the high court on an urgent basis to compel the parties to disclose the whereabouts of his brother.
He also cited President Cyril Ramaphosa, police minister Bheki Cele, international relations and co-operation minister Naledi Pandor and Mall of Africa owners Attacq.
Abdurahim alleges his brother and Abotese were abducted from the parking lot at the shopping mall by members of SANDF’s Special Forces on December 29 2022.
Last week judge Lotter Wepener instructed the three parties to disclose Abadiga’s whereabouts, but advocate Billy Moeletsi told the court his clients had no knowledge of his location.
Mashego said on the day of Abadiga’s disappearance, Maj Sunnyboy Wambi conducted the training exercise at the Mall of Africa and his team used three vehicles — a BMW, a Mercedes-Benz and an Audi — while dressed in civilian clothes. All the vehicles, according to Mashego, are registered with Peter’s Communication Trust but belong to the SANDF due to the nature of the Special Forces.
“Pursuant to the conclusion of the exercise at around 12.11pm, Maj Wambi proceeded to the parking ticket machine to pay for the parking tickets for the three vehicles,” he said.
He said Wambi returned to the mall later in the afternoon for a debriefing session and on this occasion he used two vehicles, an Audi and a VW Polo driven by another SANDF officer. The pair left the mall after concluding their debriefing at 4.55pm.
“I should mention that it could not have been possible for civilians such as Mr Abadiga and Mr Abotese to be transported, carried or conveyed in a motor vehicle belonging to the SANDF. SANDF members are not authorised to transport any civilian in a motor vehicle belonging to the SANDF without authorisation,” said Mashego.
He said there were no grounds for Abdurahim’s contention that he, Modise and Peter’s Communication Trust partook in Abadiga and Abotese’s kidnappings.
Police are investigating a case of kidnapping alongside CCTV footage captured at Mall of Africa allegedly showing vehicles with number plates registered to Peters Communications Trust. The footage shows the vehicles leaving the parking lot at about the time of Abadiga’s disappearance.
TimesLIVE Investigations reported that CCTV footage, stills of which are contained in Abdurahim’s application, allegedly show Abadiga’s car, a Toyota Lexus, being escorted out of the parking lot by one of the vehicles belonging to Peters Communications at 4.55pm on December 29.
In his application, Abdurahim claims Abadiga was last seen on CCTV footage at 12.11pm while paying for his parking ticket.
In addition to reporting his brother missing, he has also reported his vehicle stolen at the Midrand police station.
He previously told TimesLIVE Investigations on the day of his brother’s kidnapping that Abadiga was at the Mall of Africa mediating a dispute over money between an Ethiopian man and an Eritrean woman.
“He’s a leader in the Ethiopian community. Any problems they have they bring to him, and he sits and mediates,” Abdurahim said.
“After 12pm his friends said his phone wasn’t being answered. They called me at 10pm at night and told me he went to a community meeting at Mall of Africa and had not been answering since midday.”
Abadiga, an Ethiopian, was placed under US Treasury sanctions in March last year with Tanzanian Peter Charles Mbaga and South Africans Farhad Hoomer and Siraaj Miller. According to the US government, the men helped terrorist group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria to gather support and financing for its African campaigns.
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