Colonel Francois Steyn, Gauteng Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI) or the Hawks provincial coordinator of narcotics cases, testified that R55 million worth of cocaine went missing from police custody.
Image: Oupa Mokoena/Independent Newspapers
The Madlanga Commission of Inquiry heard on Monday that 136.46kg of drugs worth about R55 million went missing while in police custody in Gauteng.
The drugs were part of the 750kg cocaine seizure in Aeroton, south of Johannesburg, in July 2021 and had been handed to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) for storage.
The full 750kg consignment is estimated to have a street value of R300 million.
Testifying before the commission, Colonel Francois Steyn, Gauteng Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI) or the Hawks provincial coordinator of narcotics cases, said he was informed that some bags carrying cocaine had tears when they arrived at the FSL.
Steyn explained that the tears were likely caused by the bags being moved multiple times - from the crime scene to Booysens police station, then to a storage facility at the SAPS College, and finally to the FSL.
"Because these evidence bags, although they are quite thick plastics, I think it is because of the transportation and the movement of these bags there were small tears in the exhibit bags. According to Captain Nokia the tears were so small that the brick would not fit in tears like that," he said.
He said that at the FSL, they refuse to accept evidence for analysis if it is compromised or not properly sealed even with a minor issue.
“Captain Nokia explained to me that at reception at the forensics they actually resealed them into other bags that didn't have any damage,” he said.
Steyn said that in early February, he was informed the exhibits in the storeroom were no longer in brick form but had been converted to powder.
They were stored in transparent forensic plastic bags without markings, although the bags had attached tags.
He was also told the consignment now weighed 579.4kg, meaning 136.46kg was unaccounted for.
Steyn told the commission that on February 22, 2025, he attended a meeting with Gauteng Hawks head Major-General Ebrahim Kadwa and other senior officers, who still could not explain the missing 136.46kg.
He said Khan decided to phone the DPCI national head of the anti-corruption section and request an investigation into the matter, adding that the situation “was quite upsetting to us at the time”.
"I am not aware of the current status of this investigation," he said.
He said after the meeting they were allowed to accompany officers who showed them the storage area where the exhibits were kept.
"There was chaos that we saw," he said, adding that the storage room was full of exhibits piled on top of one another.
Earlier, Steyn told the commission at least 750kg of cocaine worth an estimated R300 million was transported undetected from Durban Harbour in a truck to Johannesburg.
The drug syndicate concealed drugs in trucks transporting legitimate cargo to Scania South Africa in Aeroton.
Steyn said that a Gauteng traffic officer, Inspector Samuel Mashaba, unsuccessfully tried to search a truck managed by Yellow Jersey Logistics which was transporting Scania cargo with the drugs hidden inside. Company personnel told Mashaba he lacked a search warrant.
Steyn testified that Mashaba, later joined by Warrant Officer Steve Pakula, were found at the scene allegedly after loading bags of cocaine onto an unmarked black bakkie and preparing to drive off.
The officers, along with the other two people were found by other officers who were dispatched after a call was made to 10111 alleging that bogus police were hijacking a truck.
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