‘No comment’: Hawks officer under fire for ‘shifting’ Aeroton drug bust version

Retired judge Mbuyiseli Madlanga (L) and Advocate Sandile Khumalo (R) at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry at Brigette Mabandla Judicial College in Pretoria on 5 June 2026. Picture: Gallo Images/Frennie Shivambu A Hawks officer faced intense questioning at the Madlanga Commission on Wednesday, 10 June 2026, over his involvement in the controversial Aeroton drug bust. The officer, identified only as “Witness I”, testified about the July 2021 operation in Aeroton, south of Johannesburg, during which715.86 kilograms of cocaine– valued at R300 million – was seized.

During his testimony delivered via audio link, Witness I claimed the Aeroton case was “related” to a separate 2020 drug bust involving the seizure of one ton of cocaine hidden in a boat on a truck. He described his role as minimal, stating he had been tasked with transporting a Saps 13 register – used to log and track seized exhibits – to the police’s training college in Pretoria. “I was not involved into deep on that,” the Hawks officer told the commission.

However, the commission’s chairperson, Mbuyiseli Madlanga, raised concerns on Wednesday about his claim that the two drug busts were “similar”. He suggested that Witness I appeared intent on taking control of the Aeroton crime scene, despite the presence of other Hawks members when he arrived. “Don’t keep changing.

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You said ‘related’, and I understood ‘related’ to be connected. Now, you are shifting and saying similar. “This distinct impression I get is that you wanted to use the inquiry you were already involved in as a foothold for you to go to Aeroton and, getting there, then leapfrogging everyone else who was there,” Madlanga remarked. The retired judge: “It’s clear from the facts that what you were investigating already had nothing to do whatsoever with the drug bust at Aeroton.”

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