Hawks Investigator Tells Madlanga Commission He Became a Target After Taking On Drug Syndicates

A Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) investigator based in KwaZulu-Natal told the Madlanga Commission on Monday that he believed there was an agenda against him because of the drug-related investigations he had conducted.

Veteran warrant officer Karl Sander said he believed he had become a "thorn in the flesh" of those linked to the drug trade due to his success in disrupting drug syndicates, which would have made him unpopular.

Sander was testifying before the commission about the investigation into the disappearance of more than 500 kilograms of cocaine that was stolen during a break-in at Hawks offices in Port Shepstone in November 2021.

Having never worked at the Port Shepstone office and having no knowledge that the cocaine was stored there, Sander said he could not understand why he was treated as a suspect following the theft.

"I did not even know it was there, Commissioner," Sander submitted regarding the missing narcotics.

He claimed he was subjected to a polygraph test ordered by suspended KwaZulu-Natal Hawks head Major-General Lesetja Senona. Sander said he had also previously undergone a polygraph test over a missing coffee machine at the office, which belonged to him.

“My only safe space was my coffee machine, and then they stole my coffee machine inside the DPCI … It's still so annoying,” Sander testified on Monday.

He said he was later removed from his position and transferred, actions he believed were retaliation for the investigations he had conducted.

Sander told the commission that he had been accused of supplying or facilitating the supply of narcotics to nightlife syndicates operating in Florida Road, but said he was never informed of the outcome of any investigation into those allegations.

Sander, who has more than four decades of policing experience, described his relationship with Senona as toxic and hostile.

His testimony continues on Tuesday.

DAILY NEWS