Witness
Hawks officer, Durban Serious Organised Crime Unit · KwaZulu-Natal
Testified · under scrutiny
A Durban Hawks officer brought onto the June 2021 Isipingo cocaine bust by his commander, Colonel Gavin Jacob - the seizure that preceded the R200m Port Shepstone theft. He told the commission he followed orders and was away at a Paarl training camp when the safe was broken into; the panel openly questioned his account.
This profile summarises testimony and evidence given on the public record before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry. It restates allegations as presented at the hearings and is not a finding of guilt, liability, or wrongdoing by any person.
Their role
Colonel Gavin Jacob brought Sibiya onto the 22 June 2021 operation at the Isipingo container depot, where 541kg of cocaine was intercepted. Only promoted to his position that September and on temporary transfer at the time, Sibiya admitted he had no specialised training or practical experience in large-scale maritime or container drug seizures.
Evidence before the commission places him among the officials who allowed national police prescripts to be flouted at the scene - the team did not call the Local Criminal Record Centre to lift fingerprints or properly cordon off the active crime scene.
Sibiya maintains his role was minimal and that he complied with the instructions of his superior, Colonel Jacob, describing his own conduct as bona fide. He rejected Maj-Gen Hendrik Flynn's allegation that the drugs were stored at a break-in-prone facility 'by design' to make the exhibit vulnerable to theft, and said he was away on training at the SAPS Paarl Academy in the Western Cape when the Port Shepstone safe was breached in November 2021.
Chairperson Justice Madlanga challenged him - 'So you just allow yourself to be used as a pawn whilst prescripts that you are aware of are being flouted?' Commissioner Adv Sesi Baloyi put to him that he had either copied Colonel Jacob's statement or agreed in advance what each would say, given the close similarities between them; Sibiya denied this, attributing it to sharing an office. He denies any wrongdoing.
Timeline
Took part in the operation at the Isipingo container depot where 541kg of cocaine was intercepted - the seizure later stored at, and partly stolen from, the Port Shepstone Hawks office.
When the Port Shepstone safe was broken into and the cocaine stolen, Sibiya says he was attending a police training camp at the SAPS Paarl Academy in the Western Cape.
Testified before the Madlanga Commission, defending his integrity while pointing accountability upward, and was openly challenged by Justice Madlanga and Commissioner Baloyi over his account and its similarities to Colonel Jacob's.
On the stand
Connections
Commander, Durban Serious Organised Crime Unit - KZN Hawks
Jacob, his unit commander, brought Sibiya onto the 22 June 2021 Isipingo operation and made the contested storage decisions; Sibiya says he followed orders.
View profile →Deployed byProvincial Commander, Serious Organised Crime - KZN Hawks
Nyuswa, the provincial SOCI commander, defended sending Sibiya to the Isipingo scene despite his lack of large-scale drug-bust experience.
View profile →Distinct person, same surnameSuspended Deputy National Commissioner of Police (Crime Detection)
Not to be confused with Lieutenant-General Shadrack Sibiya, the suspended Deputy National Commissioner - a different, more senior figure in a separate part of the inquiry.
View profile →Related caseThe case file that ties these witnesses together.
Open case file →Exhibits
“I was not part of any scheme, nor did I engage in any process designed to make the exhibit vulnerable to theft. I was following the lawful instructions of my senior.”Lt-Col Sibiya, rejecting Maj-Gen Flynn's allegations, 5 June 2026.
