By Johnathan Paoli
The head of the Hawks’ Serious Organised Crime Investigation unit, Major General Hendrik Flynn, has implicated KwaZulu-Natal provincial head Major General Lesetja Senona, saying he directly contributed to the disappearance of 541kg of cocaine from Hawks offices in Port Shepstone.
Concluding his testimony before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry on Wednesday, Flynn stressed that this was not a mere oversight by Senona, but raised serious concerns about the provincial head’s conduct
“He played an active role in the Port Shepstone matter, it’s not as if as if he was just the provincial head sitting at the distance. He was privy to the activities,” Flynn said.
“He visited the Port Shepstone offices shortly after the seizure and took possession of the key. That’s active participation. It is it’s not as if he was at the distance and that he was not related to this matter.”
The 27 bags of cocaine, seized in June 2021 from a shipping container at a depot and initially booked at Isipingo police station, were later moved to the ‘strong room’ of Hawks offices in Port Shepstone, where they were stolen in November of that year.
Flynn set out the strict regulatory framework governing the handling of exhibits, before contrasting it with what he described as widespread non-compliance in this case.
“All property and exhibits seized must be entered in the SAPS 13 Register of the relevant police station where the crime was committed or where the property was found and then transferred to the relevant unit and entered in the SAPS 13 of the relevant unit,” Flynn said.
He stressed that exhibits must be securely stored and tracked at every stage, but testified that none of these safeguards were properly followed in the handling of the cocaine consignment, valued between R200 and R250 million.
“There was no compliance in the transfer of the drugs, and I have never seen transfer documents,” he said, referring specifically to the absence of a required SAP 13 Sub-G form documenting the movement of exhibits.
Flynn told the commission that the register at Isipingo police station failed to properly capture the seized drugs.
Instead of detailed entries, including seal numbers and individual descriptions, the entire consignment was recorded as a single line item, with no container or additional information.
He described the documentation process as fundamentally flawed, characterising parts of it as a “paper exercise” designed merely to generate reference numbers rather than accurately track evidence.
“It’s clear it was just an entry to have a reference number from exhibits, this was just a paper exercise performed,” Flynn said.
The component head alleged that warrant officer Livingstone Mpangase, supposedly assigned by Senona to investigate the case, made false entries, including falsely recording that samples of the cocaine had been sent for forensic analysis.
A similar issue arose in the Port Shepstone register, where entries suggested that the exhibits had been formally received and processed, despite remaining physically stored in a strong room at the DPCI offices.
Flynn said the irregularities extended beyond documentation to the physical handling and storage of the drugs.
The room itself, he testified, was unsuitable for storing such a large consignment, citing at least seven prior break-ins at the premises before the 2021 theft.
Despite these security risks, including an attempted break-in just weeks before the cocaine was stolen, no additional protective measures were implemented, nor were the drugs moved to a safer location.
Flynn also cast doubt on whether there was ever any intention to properly process the seized substances through the forensic system.
“There is no report confirming that the consignment was formally verified as cocaine,” he said.
He strongly agreed with concerns raised by the commission that the exhibits may never have been intended for submission to the SAPS Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) in Silverton, Tshwane.
“In my view there was no intention for the substances to ever reach the FSL for proper testing and confirmation,” Flynn testified.
He said the crime scene management failings compromised the integrity of the investigation, warning that such lapses ultimately undermine efforts to combat organised crime.
In his closing remarks, Flynn highlighted the systemic challenges of tackling drug trafficking networks.
“The persistence of drug trafficking at an organised crime level is often facilitated by the complexity of modern supply chains and involvement of officials who exploit positions of trust within logistics, border control, law enforcement or commercial processes. Trafficking networks or syndicates are deliberately structured which makes detection more difficult,” he said.
Chairperson Mbuyiseli Madlanga, in the commission’s final questions, asked Flynn whether Senona should have been subjected to a polygraph test after the theft in late 2021.
“The facts here are that General Senona was involved in the decision to take the cocaine to Port Shepstone and in the end he kept the key. I’m just trying to establish in my own mind whether he ought not to have been subjected to a polygraph test. I’m asking this in the context of the fact that there were polygraph tests here and I assume that everybody who was involved in all of this saga was subjected to such tests, but he was not,” Madlanga said.
Flynn agreed with the commission, stressing that Senona had taken an active part in the moving of the drugs, yet was not subjected to any disciplinary hearings or investigations, to his knowledge.
“In my opinion Commissioner, indeed, he was supposed to be exposed to the process [polygraph] as he played an active role in the Port Shepstone matter,” Flynn said.
Proceedings adjourned for the day, with retired DPCI unit head of Port Shepstone, Lieutenant-Colonel JPP Prinsloo, expected to appear before the commission on Thursday morning.
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