The Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) management has allegedly been linked to criminals who pulled off a brazen theft of cocaine worth R200m from police offices in KwaZulu-Natal, the Madlanga commission of inquiry heard on Tuesday.
Hawks W/O Karl Sander testified at the commission probing allegations of corruption in the criminal justice system about the November 2021 theft of 541kg of cocaine worth about R200m from the Hawks offices in Port Shepstone. He told the commission the suspects in the robbery were known to police.
“Commissioner, I think it will eventually come out, but the suspects who stole the drugs are known. The links [of suspects] to the management are known,” Sander said.
The theft has attracted much scrutiny, but no significant disciplinary steps or arrests have been made five years after the robbery.
Sander had worked in the KwaZulu-Natal narcotics unit for decades but was moved by the now-suspended Hawks provincial head Maj-Gen Lesetja Senona in February 2024 after allegedly “stepping on the toes” of drug syndicates.
Part of the commission’s terms of reference is to probe allegations of law enforcement officials having links to drug cartels. The allegations were initially made by KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi in July 2025.
Sander said he had made several major seizures of drugs in the province’s harbours, mainly coming from São Paulo, Brazil.
He implied that the only reason he was moved by management from the narcotics unit to the supply chain management unit was because he “must have been stepping on the toes” of the cartels and affecting their operations in the country.
Commissioner Sandile Khumalo asked: “General Senona is coming to give evidence on Friday. The allegation made is very serious, and it goes to the terms of reference of the commission because you implied yesterday [Monday] your superiors were moving you out of the way because you were stepping on the toes of the drug traffickers. Is that an allegation you are making against Senona? Is it something we must put to him when he comes to give evidence on Friday?”
Sander said he was not accusing Senona.
Senona, allegedly linked to attempted murder accused Vusimusi “Cat” Matlala, is due to return for further testimony on Friday to face questions about the theft of drugs that took place while he was at the helm of the Hawks in KwaZulu-Natal.
Sander said he made the remarks based on suspicion because there was no reason to substantiate his removal other than disturbing criminal drug operations.
Sander was among the officers who had undergone a polygraph test during the Hawks’ internal investigations into the theft. Two reports of the polygraph test obtained by the commission showed contradictory findings. One detected Sander lied, but another polygraph report on the same robbery showed no opinion was recorded on Sander after an examiner’s error.
On Tuesday, evidence leader Lee Segeels-Ncube indicated that the commission received a report from the polygraph unit management effectively exonerating Sander of any wrongdoing.
“During the review process, the reviewer went through all tests and found the polygraph examiner had made serious errors during the examination process,” the email from the polygraph unit read.
Sander was teary as the email that cleared him was read into the record.
The test was considered invalid due to errors, the email stated.
“The polygraph examiner was stopped from conducting any further polygraph examination thereof,” the email read.
The commission continues to hear evidence.
TimesLIVE
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.