Lieutenant Colonel Kwazikwakhe Sibiya has testified before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry that photographs taken during the 541-kilogram cocaine bust at the Isipingo depot in 2021 were forwarded to Colonel Gavin Jacob.
Sibiya is a member of the Hawks’ Serious Organised Crime unit in KwaZulu-Natal.
Evidence before the commission has revealed that officers at the scene did not call in the Local Criminal Record Centre (LCRC) to process the scene and capture photographic and forensic evidence, as required by national instructions.
Sibiya told the commission that he used a state-issued cellphone to take photographs.
He says it would have been possible to cordon off the Isipingo depot to create sufficient space for the cocaine consignment to be counted.
The evidence that Colonel Jacob had previously presented suggests the cocaine had to be moved to the Isipingo police station because there was insufficient space to count and process the exhibits at the depot.
Sibiya was among the Hawks and Crime Intelligence officers called to assist during the drug bust in June 2021.
“It was a possibility to close the area so that we were able to operate. But it would have meant that even though those containers that were close to this container that we were intending to search, they would have also had to be moved so that we could have enough space to work.”
Today’s proceedings of the Madlanga Commission in the stream below:
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