‘Whistleblower suspect broke silence’ on R200m Port Shepstone cocaine theft — Hawks officer

A suspect or informant recently came forward with information about a R200m cocaine consignment stolen from a Hawks building in KwaZulu-Natal several years ago, Colonel Gavin Jacob has told the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry.

Jacob, attached to the Hawks and the commander of Durban’s Serious Organised Crime Investigation Unit, testified about this development on Wednesday, 3 June 2026.

(He was previously referred to in the commission as Govin and Gavin Jacobs.)

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 in June 2021, 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.

Jacob initially came across as confident, but under repeated questioning in the afternoon, his confidence seemed to dwindle and he made certain concessions in a lowered voice.

His testimony, during which he insisted he was not involved in any criminality, has exposed fresh friction among police officers.

Killings and crucial claims

The Madlanga Commission is investigating accusations that a drug cartel has infiltrated South Africa’s criminal justice system, politics and private security.

Reading from a statement prepared for the commission, Jacob on Wednesday said that “during late January 2026, my office conducted investigations into certain drug-related killings and feuds in the Durban and surrounding area”.

He and colleagues, including Lieutenant Colonel KG Sibiya and Lieutenant Colonel Deena Govender, were among those involved in initiating these investigations.

Jacob said the investigations led to a person coming forward in early February this year, claiming to have been involved in the “planning and execution” of the November 2021 cocaine theft from the Hawks building in Port Shepstone.

“This informer/whistleblower/suspect was directed to a senior police official outside of the [Hawks] on the same day,” Jacob said.

“We had done this as we felt it would be appropriate for a neutral party to further investigate this.

“The head office investigation team was situated in Gauteng and would not have been in a position to immediately respond to this.”

Jacob confirmed the “authenticity” or “credibility” of the new information, but did not detail it.

‘Left in total shock’

He then turned his attention to last month’s testimony before the Madlanga Commission by Major General Hendrik Flynn, who heads the Serious Organised Crime Investigation component of the Hawks.

Flynn had testified that he believed the events, from the way the crime scene was handled when the cocaine was first discovered to when it was stolen, did not simply unfold by chance.

He recalled that instead of sealing off the crime scene, officers moved the cocaine elsewhere, which went against their training.

(Jacob, on Wednesday, said depot machinery had been in operation nearby, and he wanted to ensure the cocaine was safeguarded. But he conceded to commission chair Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga that he could have done things differently.)

Flynn told the Madlanga Commission last month: “I’m of the view it’s no coincidence and that the sequence of events is indeed […] by design, if I can perhaps word it as such.”

Jacob took exception to this on Wednesday, describing Flynn’s testimony as a “false narrative.”

Jacob also testified that he met Flynn in April 2026 and told him about the new information on the cocaine theft.

DRUGS AND CORRUPTION

From bust to heist — Hawks officer says cops ‘intentionally bungled’ R200m cocaine haul investigation

May 5, 2026

Jacob said that Flynn, however, did not go to meet “the whistleblower”, instead sending a team to do so.

Jacob said that when it came to Flynn’s testimony before the Madlanga Commission, “I was left in total shock upon viewing [it].”

While Jacob understood “that all of us that were involved in the seizure would have initially been viewed as suspects,” he felt that Flynn “ought to have reassessed his investigation […] after this new information given to him by the very same members he is implicating”.

Dodgy lie detection

On Tuesday, Warrant Officer Karl Sander was among the witnesses who testified before the commission.

He was one of the police officers who were ordered to take a polygraph test after the November 2021 theft of the R200-million cocaine consignment.

Sander had testified that he was told that he had failed the test and that “deception” was detected.

During Tuesday’s proceedings, though, he was informed that the polygraph examiner had “made serious errors”, had been investigated, and that the test against him was therefore considered invalid, essentially exonerating Sander.

During Wednesday’s commission proceedings, Jacob said he had also been questioned and polygraphed over the stolen cocaine.

Read more: Thieves of R200m Port Shepstone cocaine are linked to Hawks bosses, says ‘exonerated’ cop

He passed the test, leaving him feeling “vindicated” and “a good sense of relief”.

On Wednesday, referring to what had happened to Sander and the lie detection test result, Jacob conceded: “But I understand now it doesn’t carry much weight.”

Madlanga also commented that what had emerged from the commission was that passing a polygraph test was not necessarily accurate.

‘Hawks conspired with crooks’

Sander, on Tuesday, had testified that Jacob had told him that the thieves who stole the R200-million cocaine from the Port Shepstone building were connected to the Hawks management.

On Wednesday, Jacob said: “I do believe that [Hawks] members have conspired with criminal elements to carry out this crime.”

He reiterated his concerns about Flynn.

“The damage that General Flynn’s evidence has caused to us, innocent members, by creating this false narrative and orchestrating his investigation to suit the same, is irreparable,” Jacob said.

While questioning him during Wednesday’s proceedings, however, it became clear that Madlanga Commission officials had picked up some issues with his version of events.

‘Semblance of officialdom’

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.

But Sello asked if the individual had initially been recorded as a Customs official “to give the semblance of officialdom to this operation”. Jacob denied the assertion.

The commission resumes on Thursday. DM