By Johnathan Paoli
Durban Hawks Serious Organised Crime Unit Commander Colonel Gavin Jacob ended his testimony at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry under sustained pressure on Thursday as commissioners and evidence leaders challenged inconsistencies in the investigation diary linked to the 541kg cocaine consignment stolen from a Port Shepstone police facility.
Resuming his testimony in the afternoon, Jacob said allegations linking him to the theft and inconsistencies in the investigation were based on what he described as weak and unreliable evidence.
“This is the theme that runs throughout this entire investigation directed towards myself. Shoddy investigation statements that are vague. This tells us nothing, but it seems to be the reason I’m being called out as a liar,” Jacob said.
Jacob acknowledged shortcomings in his handling of the crime scene but said investigators were unfairly using vague statements to portray him as dishonest.
“I may have messed up my crime scene, but if you look at my statements, I try and put some content into my statements. These statements here, especially investigating the theft of over R200 million worth of drugs, and now to tell the country that I am involved based on shoddy investigation like this, I’m just expressing my dissatisfaction,” he said.
The confrontation followed questions about a claim that investigators returned to the CHC depot on 1 July 2021 to conduct a further inspection of the container that had carried the cocaine.
Evidence leader advocate Mahlape Sello asked why the alleged follow-up visit appeared only in a recent statement submitted to the commission and not in earlier accounts.
She suggested Jacob had inserted the information because he knew his presence at the depot on that day would eventually require explanation.
“It benefits you because you are aware that your presence on the pier that day, the depot, will have to somehow be answered at some point, and you are anticipating that, and that is why you include it here in this statement,” Sello said.
She also challenged Jacob over the role of a clearing agent whom he said was present during the inspection, noting that the individual’s statement contradicted his version of events.
“What exactly went down on that day? It’s something you subsequently thought of, and you are thinking who to lay it, at whose doorstep to lay it,” Sello said.
Jacob rejected the suggestion and maintained that the clearing agent had been present.
Commissioner Sesi Baloyi also questioned Jacob’s explanation for returning to the container after the initial drug seizure, suggesting the exercise appeared designed to create the impression that an active investigation was taking place.
Jacob denied the allegation, maintaining that reopening and inspecting the container was standard investigative practice.
The dispute deepened when commissioners pointed to discrepancies in the investigation diary.
The commission heard that an entry recorded the cocaine consignment had been sent for forensic analysis in June 2021, while evidence before the commission showed that only a small sample was submitted in July 2021.
Jacob described the diary entry as misleading and blamed former warrant officer Livingstone Mpangase for the incorrect record.
He acknowledged that he had instructed only small samples to be submitted despite national directives requiring all exhibits to be analysed.
The commission also questioned Jacob about his handling of the operation and his decision not to deploy experienced narcotics investigator Warrant Officer Karl Sander.
Commissioner Sandile Khumalo asked why Jacob interrupted his leave to attend the operation himself instead of assigning Sander.
Jacob replied that major drug busts could be “a great ego booster” for investigators and said Sander was not the “be all and end all” of investigations.
Commission chair Mbuyiseli Madlanga criticised Jacob’s failure to seek additional resources after learning of an attempted break-in at the Port Shepstone facility where the cocaine was stored.
Madlanga suggested Jacob could have mobilised reinforcements if he believed the drugs were under threat.
Jacob ultimately conceded that he had chosen not to pursue that option.
“I took a chance, I could’ve asked for back-up and I didn’t. I chose not to try,” he admitted.
The commission heard that Jacob had also queried the possible destruction of the cocaine consignment before it was stolen.
He insisted there was “nothing sinister” about the enquiry and said concerns arose after Brigadier Nyuswa informed him of the attempted break-in at the storage facility.
Proceedings ended with confirmation that the testimony of suspended KwaZulu-Natal Hawks head Major-General Lesetja Senona, who had been expected to appear on Friday, has been postponed to a date yet to be confirmed after his legal representative informed the commission that she was medically indisposed.
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