By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Madlanga Commission of Inquiry enters final week of public hearings before the it temporarily adjourns to prepare its second interim report to president Cyril Ramaphosa.
The hearings are expected to continue focusing on drug seizures by South African law enforcement agencies, as well as the handling, theft, and disappearance of narcotic substances in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.
Jeremy Michaels, spokesperson for the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Criminality, Political Interference and Corruption in the Criminal Justice System, said hearings scheduled for May 11 to 15, 2026, would continue with testimony from witnesses who appeared before the commission last week.
“The Madlanga Commission’s hearings in the week ahead (11-15 May 2026) will continue to focus on drug seizures by South African law enforcement agencies, as well as the handling and theft or disappearance of narcotic substances in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng,” Michaels said.
The unit Commander of the Directorate for Priority Crimes Investigations (DPCI)/Hawks in Gauteng, Francois Steyn testified before the commission on Monday, 05 May 2026.
Steyn told the commission that police intercepted a tonne of cocaine shipped from Brazil to Johannesburg on the 9th of July 2021, after Gauteng traffic officers initially attempted to seize the drugs from a logistics truck.
Steyn, said the presence of numerous police officials and civilians at a drug-bust in Aeroton resulted in significant contamination of the crime scene.
He said he arrived at the scene hours after the operation on the instruction from Gauteng Hawks head Major- General, Ebrahim Kadwa.
He told the commission that four suspects were being questioned at the time, including Crime Intelligence Acting Deputy Director, Samuel Mashaba, Warrant Officer Steve Phakula, and an informer identified as Nku.
The operation took place at the Scania Trucks premises in Aeroton, south of Johannesburg, where a large consignment of drugs was discovered inside a shipping container.
Steyn said after attending a meeting in Midrand, he arrived at the scene several hours later to find standby officers, his direct commander, Brigadier Paulina Sekgobela, and Kadwa among those present.
He testified that the crime scene had not been cordoned off.
Steyn told the commission that when he approached Captain, Ngwako Sebola, who was leading the investigation, Sebola raised concerns about excessive movement at the scene and requested assistance in securing the area.
Three days after the seizure, on 12 July 2021, the drugs were transferred to a safe storage facility at the SAPS Pretoria Training College.
Steyn conceded that the move was a breach of protocol, but said urgent arrangements were necessary for safe keeping as the Booysens Police Station was not suitable for storage at the time.
He said he had received several calls from Booysens Police Station warning that the exhibits were not safe there following the seizure.
He then arranged for the exhibits to be moved to the SAPS Pretoria Training College, where responsibility was handed over to Captain, Daniel Nortje, who also held the storage keys.
He said it was only a week later, on 19 July 2021, that the forensic laboratory confirmed it was ready to receive the exhibits.
Last week, the commission heard evidence from Major General Hendrik Flynn, the head of the Hawks’ Serious Organised Crime Unit, who said the theft of 541kg of cocaine from Port Sheptstone Hawks premises had been an inside job. The cocaine had a street value of R200 million.
Steyn said the two drug busts in July 2021 in Port Shepstone and Johannesburg, where a tonne of cocaine bricks and 541kg of drugs were seized, pointed to entrenched criminal networks that used the rip-on/rip-off illicit trade method, where drugs are disguised as goods.