Hearing record
Day 105
Evidence led by Advocate Adila Hassim SC
Day 105, 11 May 2026. Gauteng Hawks narcotics coordinator Colonel Francois Steyn told the commission, led by evidence leader Advocate Adila Hassim SC, that R55 million worth of cocaine went missing from a seized consignment and raised allegations of interference around the 2021 Aeroton cocaine bust.
The day in brief
What you need to know
- Colonel Francois Steyn, the Gauteng Hawks coordinator for narcotics cases, testified with Advocate Adila Hassim SC as evidence leader about high-value cocaine seizures and alleged interference.
- Steyn told the commission that R55 million worth of cocaine went missing from a larger consignment that had been stored in a forensic laboratory, according to Daily Maverick.
- Part of his evidence concerned the July 2021 Aeroton interception south of Johannesburg, where police confiscated about 715kg of cocaine with a street value put at around R300 million.
- EWN reported that Steyn, a senior Hawks officer, alleged police interference in the investigation of that cocaine bust.
- Hassim put to Steyn allegations that a person named Khan had 'prevented' sniffer dogs from inspecting the Aeroton scene; Steyn said Khan was no longer present when he arrived but agreed a canine inspection would have been advisable.
- Steyn confirmed, in answer to Hassim, that no arrests were currently linked to the operation, underscoring how the case had stalled.
- Everyone named, including Khan, is presumed innocent; these are allegations placed before the commission, not proven findings.
Full coverage
The day, in depth
R55 million gone from the store
Steyn told the commission that R55 million worth of cocaine had gone missing from a bigger consignment held in a forensic laboratory. Daily Maverick reported the shortfall against a consignment valued at about R286 million. It was another instance of seized drugs disappearing from official custody, echoing the Port Shepstone thread from earlier in the week.
The Aeroton bust and alleged interference
Much of Steyn's evidence concerned the July 2021 Aeroton interception, where roughly 715kg of cocaine, valued at around R300 million, was seized. EWN reported that Steyn alleged police interference in the resulting investigation. Evidence leader Adila Hassim guided the account of how the operation was handled and why it produced no arrests.
The sniffer-dog allegation
Hassim asked Steyn about claims that a man named Khan had prevented sniffer dogs from inspecting the Aeroton scene. Steyn responded that Khan was no longer present by the time he arrived, but accepted that a canine inspection would have been advisable. Khan is presumed innocent and the allegation is untested.
Our analysis
The bottom line
Steyn's testimony widened the commission's focus from KwaZulu-Natal to Gauteng and from one theft to a pattern: high-value cocaine seizures that shrink or stall once inside the system. A confirmed R55 million shortfall from a stored consignment is a concrete, auditable claim, and it lands harder because it repeats the week's theme of drugs vanishing from police custody.
The interference allegations are more delicate. Steyn's own answers were carefully bounded; he did not claim to have seen Khan block the sniffer dogs, only that Khan was gone by the time he arrived, while agreeing a canine check would have been wise. That is a measured contribution, and readers should not convert a witness's second-hand framing of an allegation into a finding against a named individual who is presumed innocent.
What the day usefully establishes is the investigative cost of these gaps: by Steyn's own confirmation to Hassim, the Aeroton operation had produced no arrests. Whether that reflects interference, evidential difficulty, or the acknowledged hardness of infiltrating the drug trade is precisely what the commission must still weigh, and the archive records the competing possibilities rather than choosing between them.
Analysis is the archive’s own comment on the public proceedings, grounded in the record above. It weighs the evidence and the process; questions of individual guilt are for the courts and the commission to decide. Everyone named is presumed innocent.
Zoom out
Related case files
Aeroton cocaine bust
A cocaine seizure from Brazil, routed through Durban to Gauteng, compromised at the scene with R55 million later unaccounted for - and a forensic trail pointing to an organised syndicate with insiders at the port. One of two cocaine cases the commission ties to the same trafficking pattern.
Read the case file →Case file - Political interferenceKhan-Malema-Sayed network
A crime intelligence general, a cigarette businessman, and a political leader - the Nyatlo affidavit traces an alleged network of mutual protection spanning police contracts, parliamentary questions, and a private complainant's home address.
Read the case file →In the room & on the record
Counsel, the panel and sources
Evidence led by
- Advocate Adila Hassim SC
On the panel
- Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga (chairperson)
Sources
- EWN - Senior Hawks officer alleges police interference in R300m cocaine case (11 May 2026) ↗
- Daily Maverick - Another cocaine theft: cop confirms R55m missing from R286m consignment seized by police (11 May 2026) ↗
- Sunday World - Watch | Col Steyn testifies at Madlanga commission about R300m drug bust (11 May 2026) ↗