Distancing himself: Hawks officer Colonel Gavin Jacob testifying at the Madlanga commission. He said a
polygraph test had vindicated him of being involved in the drug theft. Photo: Supplied
Colonel Gavin Jacob, the commander of the Hawks’ Durban Serious Organised Crime Investigation Unit, has denied any involvement in the theft of 541kg of cocaine, telling the Madlanga commission that an internal investigation into the matter had been falsified.
“I had no involvement in the theft of the 541kg cocaine consignment that was stolen during a break-in at the Port Shepstone DPCI office,” he said.
Jacob said he had been on leave when he had received a call from Lieutenant Colonel Jabulani Duma, about information relating to drugs at the Isipingo depot in Durban. He alleged that Major General Hendrick Fynn had falsified an investigation to wrongly implicate Hawks members.
Fynn previously told the commission that the Hawks team had failed to follow proper procedures when inspecting and storing the drugs.
Retired Hawks Lieutenant Colonel Jakobus Prinsloo has told the commission that the theft might have been an inside job.
Jacob said a witness, who had come forward in February 2026, had claimed to have information about the break-in at the Hawks’ Port Shepstone office. The lead had never been followed up.
On 22 June 2021, Jacobs, accompanied by Warrant Officers Shadrack Sibiya and Livingston Mpangase, investigated the cocaine shipment that was later stolen from the Hawks’ Port Shepstone office.
The Hawks found 27 bags containing 541 bricks of cocaine weighing 1kg each. The consignment was subsequently stored at the Port Shepstone office.
Jacob alleged that Fynn had misled the commission during his testimony in May, adding that he had simply been following instructions to store the drugs at the Port Shepstone head office.
He had not been aware it had had numerous break-ins.
“The damage that General Fynn’s evidence has caused to us, innocent members, by creating his false narrative and orchestrating his investigation to suit the same, is irreparable,” he said.
Several Hawks members faced a disciplinary process after the theft and were subjected to a polygraph examination.
The connection between KwaZulu-Natal Hawks head Major General Lesetja Senona and the R200 million cocaine theft has been a central focus of the Madlanga Commission, with the major-general expected to testify on 5 June.
Jacob said Senona had ordered that the cocaine be moved from Isipingo police station to the Hawks’ Serious Organised Crime offices in Port Shepstone.
However, the facility lacked functioning CCTV cameras, had no security guards and its alarm system was not linked to an armed response service.
The Hawks Port Shepstone office had been targeted in eight break-ins since 2011, including three during Senona’s tenure before the November 2021 theft.
During the heist, intruders reportedly used a grinder to break into the safe over a weekend.
Jacob told the commission that the forensic laboratory did not have sufficient storage capacity for a consignment of that size.
He said he had informed Brigadier Campbell Nyuswa that he had been unable to find suitable storage for the drugs. Senona had later instructed him to transfer the consignment to the Hawks’ office in Port Shepstone.
“Nyuswa later informed me that an instruction had been issued by Hawks Major General Senona for the consignment to be stored at the Port Shepstone DPCI office,” he said.
Senona, who has been suspended as head of the KwaZulu-Natal Hawks, is alleged to have authorised the relocation of the drugs to a vulnerable facility and to have retained the keys to the strongroom from where they later disappeared.
Warrant Officer Karl Sander has told the commission that lower-ranking officers were victimised.
He told the commission that he, too, had been subjected to a polygraph test, which he passed, and workplace privileges had been revoked, including a R1 000 stipend and a stolen coffee machine from his office.
Sander told the commission that Senona had sidelined him by transferring him to support services under the pretext of a corruption investigation that was closed within four days.
Senona has denied allegations of misconduct, maintaining that he has been subjected to baseless accusations that had damaged his reputation.
Jacob told the commission that the theft of the cocaine had embarrassed the Hawks.
“I do believe that [Hawks] members have conspired with criminal elements to carry out this crime,” he said.
Jacob said Fynn’s investigation had unfairly damaged the reputations of “innocent members” by creating a narrative designed to support predetermined conclusions.
He told the commission that Warrant Officer Bheki Setshedi had admitted to being intimidated into making a false statement under duress.
“The intimidation of witnesses shows clear bias from the team investigating the theft of the drugs.
“I believe that in the absence of any evidence pertaining to the actual theft of the drugs, a false narrative of what transpired was created.”
“It is clear that I was not part of the decision to store the drugs at Port Shepstone but it is being insinuated that I was part of this planning.”
Jacob said that passing the polygraph test had vindicated him of being involved in the theft.
However, evidence leader Mahlape Sello questioned Jacob about the absence of DNA forensic analysis and the failure to obtain a statement from customs officials.
Jacobs acknowledged that had been an oversight.