Madlanga Commission: Major General Hendrik Flynn continues his testimony

Added: 2026-05-07

[00:00:00]The Mdlangeni Commission of Inquiry, Major General Hendrick Flynn, is back on the witness stand. He's been testifying about the theft of cocaine in 2021 at the Hawks premises in Port Shepstone.

[00:00:10]That was worth about 200 million rand.

[00:00:13]Alpha Ramashwana is keeping an eye on this story today. I believe it's all about the the paper trail or lack of it.

[00:00:21]Yes, good afternoon, um Jane. So, uh Major General Hendrick Flynn is the head of the Hawks' uh Serious Organized Crime Investigations unit, and they are now investigating the theft of 541 kg of cocaine from the Hawks' facility in Port Shepstone. And really, the commissioners in the uh leaders have been trying to ascertain how exactly uh drugs of this magnitude are uh are able to be stolen from a facility owned and run by a law enforcement agency. Jane, you would expect that at the Hawks' storage facility where seized items are kept, there would be 24-hour surveillance by the Turns out that there was no CCTV cameras at all. There were no um alarm systems. In fact, the alarm systems were not working, and they were not maintained. The security company that had been um guarding the premises, their contract with the Hawks expired in 2020 already. And so, it seems as though the uh thieves who broke into the Hawks' facility to steal the drugs worth 200 million rand had it easy. Uh and we've also heard that this very same facility has been broken into at least seven times between 2011 and 2021, uh Jane.

[00:01:36]So, really, the commissioners are questioning why exactly it was so easy for the thieves to steal 541 kg in cocaine. They're also saying that it seems as though it may have been an inside job because the thieves seemingly knew exactly where to go when they entered the premises. And the only thing that they took were the 541 drugs, which were initially discovered by the Hawks inside a shipping container at the at the Durban Harbor. So really there's a lot of gray areas and questionable conduct also by Hawks members in processing and keeping those drugs at the facility in Port Shepstone. I mean seven break-ins at least. Uh It's It's gobsmacking, isn't it? Alpha, let's leave it there and dip into the commission and listen to what Henrik Flinn has to say. I think you made the comment that um you you understood why the LCRC was not called to the scene on the day in respect of this um seizure we're talking about. And if I heard you correctly, you said they were trying to beat the criminals to the container.

[00:02:48]Did I understand you correctly? That's correct, commissioner.

[00:02:50]>> So there was a level of agency in that case. Indeed. Does the same level of agency Did the same same level of agency attach to the Port Shep- what I'll call the Port Port Shepstone seizure?

[00:03:03]No, commissioners.

[00:03:05]Thank you.

[00:03:07]>> [clears throat] >> But it I mean at least you it sounds like at best you'd say that they No agency has been claimed for the absence of the LCRC in Port Shepstone.

[00:03:20]Well, commissioners, as as explained by Colonel Jacob, he indicated that the scene became busy with the perhaps individuals arriving at the at the warehouse yard.

[00:03:38]But I also explained that that's a controlled environment already per se as it's a warehouse.

[00:03:45]And it could have been easily contained where an outside perimeter and inside perimeter could have been Um and I could have decide how big that uh perimeter uh needed to be in order for them to properly deal with the scene.

[00:04:02]I also said that there was no need to transfer the crime scene or the exhibits seized from the crime scene to Isipingo before all the necessary investigations were done uh at the container.

[00:04:19]That was Major General Hendrick Flynn uh elaborating on some of the action that has been happening in Hawks's offices when it comes to drug consignments that were taken and then eventually stolen from there. We'll be keeping an eye on that.