By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The retired Lieutenant-Colonel Jakobus Prinsloo, a former member of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI), commonly known as the Hawks, told the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry on Thursday that the Port Shepstone offices were highly vulnerable, repeatedly broken into and entirely unsuitable for storing large quantities of drugs.
Prinsloo testified about the disappearance of 541 kilograms of cocaine stolen from the Hawks’ premises in November 2021.
His testimony follows evidence from Hawks officer Hendrik Flynn, who earlier implicated embattled KwaZulu-Natal Hawks head Lesetja Senona in events surrounding the disappearance of the drugs.
Prinsloo painted a grim picture of the state of security at the Port Shepstone offices, describing a facility that lacked even the most basic protections expected at a site storing high-value drug exhibits.
“The office building was accessible from the street. However, access to it was through the use of a code. This code was universal and not unique. All of us had this single code,” Prinsloo said
“The gate was not manned. If someone would obtain a code, they would obviously get into the office building. I must also point out that there was no system to know who had used the code for access.”
He further testified that the office had no CCTV cameras, no external motion sensors and no reliable alarm system capable of functioning during power outages.
“There were no cameras or beams outside the office. Further, there was no alarm system monitoring movement on the outside or exterior of the building,” he said.
“Obviously, when there was load-shedding, the electricity fence would not work. The office had no generator or electricity backup. If there was an interruption of the electricity supply on a Saturday, for example, then the alarm would be disarmed, and the office would be totally exposed.”
He also told the Commission that seized cocaine exhibits were never formally recorded.
Prinsloo said national instruction require exhibits to be counted an recorded at a SAPS office, although he noted this is not always common practice.
He told the commission that Port Shepstone DPCI commander, Brigadier Msizi Campbell Nyuswa, and Senona, were present when officers stored the cocaine in the unit’s walk-in safe.
Prinsloo said he was instructed to empty the safe before the exhibits were placed inside.
He further testified that Warrant Officer, Livingstone Mpangase, was placed in charge of the cocaine under Nyuswa’s command.
According to Prinsloo, the drugs were never formally booked in because the DPCI office had reportedly been instructed not to store exhibits since 2017.
The former DPCI officer described the arrangement as highly risky, saying it created opportunities for untraceable theft.
He also raised concerns that the drugs were never physically counted, saying neither Senona, Nyuswa, nor Mpangase proposed that the the exhibits be formally verified.
Prinsloo said he was verbally informed that the shipment consisted of 541 kilograms of cocaine, which was later stolen during a burglary months afterwards.
He told the commission that Nyuswa informed him the cocaine would be stored in the Port Shepstone DPCI offices after being seized at the Durban Harbour, allegedly because the forensic laboratory did not enough secure storage space.
Prinsloo, who testified that he follows lawful instructions from his superiors without question, said he did not challenge the decision because he believed it was not his place to do so.
In another startling revelation, Prinsloo testified that Senona instructed him not to inform other Hawks members about the cocaine being stored at the premises.