MADLANGA COMMISSION: R200m cocaine theft and coffee machine scandal — Suspended KZN Hawks boss Senona’s version
A R200-million cocaine consignment and an unlikely national talking point – a coffee machine – have been central to the latest Madlanga Commission of Inquiry proceedings, with suspended KwaZulu-Natal Hawks head Lesetja Senona distancing himself from any notions that he was involved in malicious or criminal activities.
Sidelined KwaZulu-Natal Hawks boss Lesetja Senona has told the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry how he was removed from his office at gunpoint when he was suspended earlier this year.
He has again also distanced himself from wrongdoing relating to a R200-million cocaine theft from a Hawks building and insisted that he never maliciously forced a colleague to take a lie detector test over a stolen coffee machine.
“I’m very careful not to make addmissions that are not correct,” Senona said.
He was testifying before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry on Friday, 19 June 2026.
What it’s all about?
The Madlanga Commission of Inquiry is investigating accusations that a drug cartel has infiltrated South Africa’s criminal justice sector, politics and private security. Suspended KwaZulu-Natal Hawks boss Lesetja Senona has been called to testify before the commission because a R200-million cocaine consignment was stolen from a Hawks building in his province in 2021.
It was not his first time in the witness stand.
During Senona’s previous testimony before the commission, including over a few days towards the end of January this year, when he was grilled about his dealings with organised crime accused Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala.
Matlala faces various criminal charges and accusations, including that he is a member of the drug cartel that has allegedly infiltrated the state.
The Madlanga Commission proceedings that Senona is central to have focused on a R200-million cocaine consignment that was intercepted in Isipingo, KwaZulu-Natal, in June 2021.
Months later, it was stolen from the poorly secured Hawks building in Port Shepstone in what is now believed to have been an inside job.
The cocaine should not have been stored there, but the commission has heard there were space constraints elsewhere.
‘Removed at gunpoint’
On Friday, Senona told the commission that a few days after his initial testimony in January this year, he was “taken out my office at gunpoint”.
He added that he was escorted from his office, presumably by colleagues, and his “tools of the trade” were confiscated.
Senona had been suspended, and he described his physical removal from office as being treated “like a dog”.
During Friday’s proceedings, he said that other commission witnesses had provided evidence that implicated him in the Port Shepstone cocaine scandal and related issues.
Senona referenced the testimony of Warrant Officer Karl Sander.
Daily Maverick has reported that Sander recently told the commission that he had worked on narco-trafficking investigations at the Hawks’ South African Narcotics Enforcement Bureau unit.
However, he was transferred from there and he believed this was intended to get him away from drug trafficking cases because his investigations were posing a threat to potentially corrupt individuals, including police officers and port workers.
Sander had also said that a colleague, Colonel Gavin Jacob, had told him it was known who had stolen the Port Shepstone cocaine and that the thieves were linked to the Hawks management.
Cocaine claims
During Friday’s commission proceedings, Senona suggested that Sander had portrayed him in a negative light.
Senona’s statement prepared for the Madlanga Commission said: “The distinct impression has already been created that first, I transferred Sander and second that I did so for nefarious reasons.
“This is just not true.”
Senona said a colleague, Major-General Surajbali, instructed him to “temporarily place the member at another post pending investigation”.
“The member” appeared to be a reference to Sander, and Senona said he had carried out the instruction.
Senona explained that the investigation related to “a serious allegation” that Sander and other police officers were “involved in the theft of cocaine at the harbour and selling it to a specific gang”.
When Sander had testified, he said he had been wrongly implicated in the cocaine theft scandal because he was closing in on traffickers.
Coffee machine controversy
While previously addressing the commission, Sander also recalled undergoing a polygraph test in relation to the stolen cocaine and his coffee machine that was stolen from his office.
The polygraph examiner had told Sander he failed the test, but it turned out the examiner had made errors.
Sander became emotional when he heard, for the first time during the Madlanga Commission proceedings, about the errors, which essentially exonerated him.
This specific part of Sander’s testimony touched a national nerve – an online crowdfunding campaign was launched to collect money to replace his stolen coffee machine.
Cocaine cases
The stolen R200-million Port Shepstone cocaine is one of two major controversial drug crackdowns the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry has focused on. The other involves a consignment worth about R286-million that was intercepted in July 2021 in Aeroton, an industrial area in the south of Johannesburg. It later emerged R55-million of that cocaine was missing from a state forensic science laboratory.
Hundreds of thousands of rands were reportedly collected, with Sander saying he planned to put the money towards anti-drug operations.
During Friday’s Madlanga Commission proceedings, Senona brought up the now-contentious coffee machine.
“I have no recollection of subjecting the member to a polygraph test relating to the theft of a coffee machine,” his statement said.
“I should not have to answer to these allegations in this statement. I do so out of caution.”
Senona testified that it would have been “insane of me” to maliciously force Sander to be polygraphed over his stolen coffee machine.
During proceedings, Sander said that other items, including a state laptop with sensitive information on it, a state camera and a laminating machine, had been stolen from the same office as the coffee machine.
He said these items simply went missing from the office and were not taken during burglaries, necessitating legitimate action.
Security matters
Another witness who previously testified before the Madlanga Commission was Jakobus Prinsloo, a former Hawks officer.
Daily Maverick reported that Prinsloo had outlined to the commission the poor security measures at the Hawks building in Port Shepstone, where the R200-million cocaine was stored.
He had described the Hawks building as “totally unsuitable” for storing confiscated drugs.
Senona on Friday responded to Prinsloo’s testimony, saying: “Although he testified about security concerns and challenges at the offices, he failed to escalate these concerns directly to my attention after his alleged attempts [to improve security] with Supply Chain Management.
“At no stage were the security concerns at Port Shepstone brought to my attention.”
Senona continued testifying on Friday afternoon. DM
What next?
More witnesses are expected to testify before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry, which aims to wrap up its hearings by the end of July 2026. It will then complete a report on the hearings, which will be presented to President Cyril Ramaphosa.
