Madlanga Commission | Mashaba grilled over failure to report July 2021 drug bust

Gauteng Traffic chief, Samuel Mashaba, has come under scrutiny at the Madlanga Commission for failing to notify the nearest police station about the July 2021 drug-bust in Aeroton, south of Johannesburg.

Mashaba continued his testimony before the commission on Friday, where commissioners scrutinised both his conduct during the operation and his relationship with alleged police informant and businessman, Tumelo Nku.

The commission that according to Mashaba’s supplementary statement, he received information from Nku on the morning of 9 July 2021 about a truck allegedly transporting drugs. Acting on the information, Mashaba decided to intercept the vehicle and arrange for it be searched.

Commissioners noted that such operations would ordinarily be conducted by SAPS and questioned why Mashaba chose not to alert either senior police officials or the nearest police station.

His supplementary statement states that after receiving information from alleged police informant Tumelo Nku about the drugs on the morning of the operation, he decided to intercept the truck allegedly carrying them and arrange for it to be searched.

The commission further heard that Mashaba lives less than two kilometres from Alberton Police Station, where he could have reported the information instead of taking charge of the operation himself.

Mashaba defended his actions, insisting he was being cautious about who he involved.

The commission also examined a series of WhatsApp messages between Mashaba and Nku that appear to paint a picture of a relationship extending beyond that of a police officer and an informant.

One of the messages related to a failed attempt by an individual to travel from Amsterdam to South Africa. The messages, dated 7 April 2021, were allegedly forwarded by Nku from a conversation with a person referred to as “Iby Boss”.

The discussion appeared to concern an individual who had been prevented from boarding a flight to South Africa because immigration-related issues.

Mashaba repeatedly told the commission he could not recall who was being discussed or why the information had been shared with him.

Commission chairperson, Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga, challenged Mashaba’s explanation, suggesting he was being deliberately evasive.

Madlang argued that the volume and nature of the exchanges between Mashaba and Nku contradicted Mashaba’s repeated claims that Nku was merely and informant.

The commission also heard that Nku allegedly instructed Mashaba to “postpone preps for today” because of the failed trip, which Mashaba responded with a thumbs-up emoji.

Further scrutiny focused on WhatsApp messages in which Nku allegedly asked Mashaba to identify the owner of a vehicle using its registration number.

Mashaba claimed he could not remember why the request had been made.

Evidence leader, Advocate Lee Seegles-Ncube, questioned why a civilian would ask a law enforcement officer to access official systems on their behalf.

Mashaba acknowledged that he has access to systems capable of identifying vehicle owners and admitted that he had previously used them when he felt threatened by a particular vehicle.

Commissioner, Sesi Baloyi, suggested the request could have formed part of the “side hustles” Mashaba had earlier admitted to undertaking with Nku.

Mashaba rejected the suggestion and denied any improper conduct.

The commission further confronted Mashaba with Telegram messages indicating that Nku had sent him the location of the Aeroton operation at approximately 10:25pm on 8 July 2021.

This contracted Mashaba’s earlier evidence that he only received the location at around 5am on morning of the operation.

“It’s totally unfair that something will be pushed through my throat that even if the authenticity of this thing needs to be investigated, I must just be told this is what happened. Just given a paper like this. I am saying I’m the morning. Just because I don’t agree with this, it’s a lie. I don’t think it’s fair,” said Mashaba.

Commissioner, Sandile Khumalo, also raised concerns about the pair’s use of Telegram, noting that there was no evidence before the commission showing that the relevant communication had taken place on WhatsApp, as Mashaba had previously suggested.

The commission heard that Telegram is an encrypted messaging platform that offers users a greater degree of privacy and security than conventional messaging services.

Written by: Odirile Rabalao