Hawks warrant officer, Karl Sander, has been cleared of the claims that he participated in the drug theft in 2021.
Image: Kamogelo Moichela / IOL News
Hawks Warrant Officer Karl Sander broke down at the Madlanga Commission on Monday after being told that a disputed polygraph test linked to him had been declared invalid, effectively clearing him of suspicion in a case that has shadowed him for years.
Sander was previously implicated in allegations surrounding the 2021 theft of 541kg of cocaine, valued at more than R200 million, from a Hawks storage facility in Port Shepstone.
This placed him under intense internal scrutiny within the police service.
Evidence leader Lee Seegels-Ncube told the Madlanga Commission that an administrative review found serious procedural failures by the polygraph examiner, rendering the results unreliable and triggering a formal investigation into noncompliance.
The examiner was subsequently barred from conducting further tests after a nonconformance process confirmed multiple errors in the examination procedure, according to commission evidence.
Commission chair Mbuyiseli Madlanga sought clarity on whether Sander had been effectively exonerated and was told “yes” by the evidence leader.
Sander previously testified that he was ordered to undergo the polygraph over a missing office coffee machine, an incident he believes was used to intimidate him amid a wider internal power struggle.
He was an elite narcotics investigator linked to the high-profile seizure of 541kg of cocaine worth more than R200 million from a Hawks storage facility in Port Shepstone in 2021.
He alleges that his investigative work disrupted corrupt networks and that attempts to implicate him formed part of a broader effort to derail sensitive probes.
Maj-Gen Lesetja Senona is expected to return before the Madlanga Commission on Friday for further questioning as the inquiry continues into alleged misconduct within elite policing units.
The commission said all findings remain subject to cross-examination and further testimony, with no final determinations yet reached as scrutiny intensifies.
kamogelo.moichela@iol.co.za
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