By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Madlanga Commission of Inquiry into Criminality, Political Interference and Corruption in the Criminal Justice System heard Gavin Jacob testimony, claiming he was not part of a plot to have a large consignment of drugs stolen from a police storage facility.
Jacob is the commander of the SAPS Durban Serious Organised Crime Investigation Unit.
The missing cocaine, valued at more than R200 million, vanished from police custody in 2021 and remains unaccounted for. Despite the scale of the theft and years of scrutiny, no arrests have been made.
Proceedings resumed after a lengthy day of testimony on Tuesday, during which five witnesses shed new light on how drug exhibits are handled within the police system.
Evidence presented before the commission challenged claims that officials from the Forensic Science Laboratory routinely attend non-clandestine crime scenes to collect drug samples and exhibits.
Jacob and a colleague, a Warrant Officer Mpangase, were the first police officers to deal with the cocaine that had been intercepted in Isipingo on 22 June 2021.
The consignment was stored in the Hawks building in Port Shepstone, which lacked sufficient security measures – it was stolen from the premises in November 2021 in what is widely viewed as an inside job.
Jacob had been on leave at the time information on the cocaine was initially picked up, months earlier than the theft. But he still went to the Isipingo depot, where the intercepted cocaine was, even though he was not aware of the quantity of drugs at the scene.
This was among several aspects he was grilled on during Wednesday’s proceedings.
His testimony, during which he insisted he was not involved in any criminality, has exposed fresh friction among police officers.
Jacob said: “I do believe that [Hawks] members have conspired with criminal elements to carry out this crime.”
Evidence leader, advocate Mahlape Sello SC, pointed out to Jacob that, according to his investigation diary (his notes on the investigation), he had never obtained a statement from an individual recorded as a Customs official who had been at the scene of the cocaine discovery at the Isipingo depot.
Jacob acknowledged that no statement had been recorded in his investigation diary and clarified that the official was actually someone attached to the depot, who was meant to engage with Customs. In other words, it had not been a Customs official.
He said that he may have had sufficient statements, which was why he never obtained the statement from this person.
Chair, Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga further questioned whether Jacob accepted that his conduct constituted an irregular procedural flaw.
Jacob acknowledged that it did.
The commission also examined his decisions during the operation itself, particularly his choice of officers involved and the handling of the seized cocaine.
The commission also focused on Jacob’s decision to move the cocaine from the scene before it had been fully processed.
Jacob testified that after the drugs were offloaded from a shipping container at the Isipingo depot, he concluded there was insufficient space to conduct the operation safely and effectively.