Hearing record
Day 121
Evidence led by Advocate Teboho Mosikili
The Aeroton probe stalled for the day when Tumelo Nku, the alleged funder due to testify, again sought a postponement to a date still to be agreed.
The day in brief
What you need to know
- Businessman Itumeleng 'Tumelo' Nku, alleged in earlier testimony to have funded traffic chief Samuel Mashaba, was due to give his own account of the Aeroton cocaine bust but applied for a further postponement.
- The commission agreed to hold Nku's evidence over to a date still to be agreed rather than hear it on the day.
- Nku's appearances had already proved difficult to schedule - IOL reported an earlier postponement of his testimony on what it described as the R300 million Aeroton drug bust.
- Security concerns were later cited publicly around Nku's evidence, with SABC News reporting his testimony was at one stage postponed indefinitely on safety grounds.
- Nku ultimately appeared later in June, giving his contested account across Days 126 to 127 (25-26 June 2026).
- The delay left the Aeroton record one-sided for the moment, with Mashaba's discredited version on the transcript and the alleged funder's answer still outstanding.
Full coverage
The day, in depth
A witness who would not be heard
Nku was the day's anticipated witness - the man whose WhatsApp payments and tip-offs had framed the cross-examination that broke Mashaba's evidence. Instead of testifying, he sought a postponement, and the commission moved his appearance to a date still to be agreed. The archive records Day 121 as the Aeroton probe continuing but the key voice absent.
A pattern of delay
This was not the first time Nku's evidence had slipped. IOL had reported an earlier postponement of his testimony on the Aeroton bust, which it valued at around R300 million. The repeated deferrals became a storyline in themselves, testing the commission's patience with a witness central to the drug-bust narrative.
Safety in the frame
Around Nku's evidence, security concerns were raised publicly. SABC News reported that his testimony was at one point postponed indefinitely due to safety concerns, underlining how sensitive the alleged informant's account had become for a man positioned between police officers and a trafficking network.
The answer deferred, not withdrawn
The postponement did not end Nku's obligation to appear. He returned later in the month, testifying across Days 126 and 127, where he would offer his own version of the Aeroton events and his dealings with Mashaba. Day 121 simply marked the gap before that account was finally put on the record.
Our analysis
The bottom line
A day lost to a postponement is still a day that tells you something. Nku sits at the hinge of the Aeroton case - the alleged funder and tipster whose messages had just been used to dismantle a senior officer's testimony - and his repeated unavailability kept the most contested account off the record while Mashaba's discredited one stood alone.
The commission's decision to grant the postponement, rather than compel immediate testimony, reflects the balance an inquiry has to strike between momentum and fairness, especially once safety concerns enter the picture. A witness is entitled to be heard properly and safely, and Nku remains presumed innocent of any wrongdoing pending his own evidence.
The broader lesson of Day 121 is about the fragility of the process. When the pivotal witness in a drug-trafficking strand can defer, and when security fears attach to his appearance, the commission's ability to complete the picture depends on witnesses it cannot fully control. That Nku did ultimately testify days later is what kept the Aeroton account from remaining permanently half-told.
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.
In the room & on the record
Counsel, the panel and sources
Evidence led by
- Advocate Teboho Mosikili
On the panel
- Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga (chairperson)
- Advocate Sesi Baloyi SC
- Advocate Sandile Khumalo SC