Madlanga Commission | New witness to testify on Tuesday

Added: 2026-05-12

[00:00:00]A new witness will take the stand at the Madlanga Commission in Pretoria this morning. The witness is expected to continue testimony relating to drug seizures by law enforcement agencies.

[00:00:10]Let's cross live now to our reporter Kenny Maphanga who's in Pretoria for us.

[00:00:14]Uh Kenny, good morning. So since since last week we've been hearing about these uh drug busts, the drug seizures, but also how these drugs somehow go missing uh from police custody.

[00:00:27]Mhm.

[00:00:30]Indeed, uh good morning to you Sakina and to the viewers at home. There has been a sharp focus this week on that end of July 2021 Aeroton Scania incident where there was the interception of that cocaine that seriously saw the drug syndicates allegedly exploiting that legitimate logistical network of Scania in order to smuggle those drugs into the country. Now, the issue with this particular incident, Sakina, is that it mirrors the Port Shepstone facility identically. And we're also hearing from the evidence that those particular drugs that were transported to a different facility, that indeed some were missing when that final tally took place. Now, the difference with this incident and in light of the evidence that is uh dealing with the issue of the rip-on rip-off method that has already been uh described by an earlier witness that is uh Major General Hendrik Flynn, that in order for this type of smuggling to thrive, Sakina, you need law enforcement officers that are complicit. In this incident, we had two sets of law enforcement officers that responded to this particular scene, and the conduct of both those sets of officers was quite questionable in that regard, which raises the question as to whether or not these particular law enforcement officers were acting in the best interests of the administration of justice or were they acting in accordance with allegedly what has been implied through the evidence through this rip on rip off method, which allows or rather needs those law enforcement officers to participate in the work of these alleged drug syndicates in order to thrive. And I think throughout the course of the week that question will be answered, Sakina, because it's quite critical to understand why both teams that descended on this particular interception did not follow protocol at all up until the end, raising the question as to whether or not those drugs were being seized for a good reason or for an alleged ulterior purpose. We'll speak about more of that questioning that will take place throughout the course of the week when we catch up in the next hour. It's over to you in studio.

[00:02:43]Well, thanks so much, Kenny. Indeed, we shall, given how the scenes were contaminated and also the attempt to transport some of those drugs on an open-back bakkie. But, of course, Kenny will have more of those details for us in the next crossing.