By Johnathan Paoli
Colonel Francois Steyn, the commander of the Gauteng West Rand Hawks, has outlined how a substantial portion of 715kg of cocaine seized during a major 2021 drug bust in southern Johannesburg later went missing from police custody, despite the consignment initially being counted, sealed and transported under armed guard.
Appearing before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry on Monday, Steyn detailed how 715 bricks of suspected cocaine with an estimated street value R300 million were seized from a shipping container truck at Scania Trucks in Aeroton, south of Johannesburg, on 8 July 2021.
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He said he was confident over the initial handling of the crime scene, despite complaining about too many people having been given access at first.
“I was happy with the way in which [then] Capt. Piletjie Sebola dealt with the issue of crime scene management; although the scene was already seriously compromised, we dealt with it to the best of our ability,” Steyn said.
Steyn, who at the time, also headed the Provincial Narcotics Team within the Hawks in Gauteng, described how he was called to the crime scene by Gauteng DPCI head Major General Ebrahim Kadwa.
“The General informed me that there was a narcotics crime scene that he needs me and my team to attend to. The scene was at the premises of Scania Trucks in Aeroton, South of Johannesburg. He informed me that a large consignment of drugs was found in the back of a container truck,” he said.
Steyn said he arrived at the scene at around 13:00 after attending a meeting in Midrand and found numerous police officials already there, including detectives, uniformed officers and members of his own narcotics team.
Steyn told investigators that Sebola requested assistance in securing the scene, managing suspects, taking statements and safeguarding the exhibits.
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He assigned two officers (Captain Dail Nortje and Warrant Officer David Morris) to take control of the cocaine bricks.
“The exhibits were packed in black bags, with handles. The two members who I assigned to deal with the exhibits opened these bags and showed me that it contained ‘bricks’. These ‘bricks’ were wrapped in black and transparent wrap,” Steyn said.
He said officers immediately suspected the packages contained cocaine.
Steyn described how the bricks carried identifying markings, including a “bull in red colour” and a “seagull in black colour on a white background”.
He said the drugs were then unpacked, counted and photographed.
The cocaine was sealed into official evidence bags before being transported to the Booysens Police Station.
But concern quickly emerged about the security of the drugs at the police station.
“Throughout the weekend, following the operation, I was contacted by the Station Commander of Booysens, Brigadier [Hennie] Jones. He raised concerns for the safety of the exhibits and requested me to have it removed as soon as possible,” he said.
Steyn said he then arranged for the cocaine to be moved to a secure strong room at the SAPS College in Pretoria after forensic laboratories indicated they could not immediately accept the exhibits because of COVID-related capacity constraints.
“I was satisfied that this was a very safe place with access control at the gates to this facility. When we offloaded the exhibit bags the ‘bricks’ were still in the form that they were, at the time of the seizure,” he testified.
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Steyn later contracted COVID-19 and went into isolation, but said Captain Nortje informed him on 19 July 2021 that the drugs had finally been handed over to the forensic science laboratory.
“I asked Captain Nortje if all was still in order with the exhibits and he indicated that all was still in order,” Steyn testified.
The bombshell revelation came years later during a departmental investigation linked to an Independent Police Investigative Directorate probe into the handling of the cocaine.
“In the beginning of February 2025, IPID contacted me and informed me that they found the exhibits in their storeroom, but the exhibits were no longer in the ‘brick’ form,” Steyn said.
He added that the cocaine now weighed substantially less.
“The specific consignment of exhibits now only weighs in at 579,40kg and that 136,46kg was hence unaccounted for,” he said.
Steyn said officials at the forensic laboratory could not explain the missing cocaine.
“They could not explain the 136,46kg that was unaccounted for and General Kadwa then phoned DPCI Head Office Anti-Corruption Section Head and requested an investigation into the matter,” he said.
Major General Feroz Khan later intervened during the operation and was subsequently cleared in an internal disciplinary process chaired by Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, who reportedly stated that SAPS “owes General Khan” for preventing the theft.
Proceedings adjourned for the day, with the next witness to appear on Tuesday morning.
