Listen to this article.
By Palesa Matlala
- Gauteng traffic chief Samuel Mashaba was suspended in 2021 over a cocaine bust, reinstated by arbitration and is now suspended for a second time.
- The Madlanga Commission heard he received money from informant Tumelo Nku and joined a drug operation traffic police had no authority to handle.
Gauteng Traffic Police Chief Inspector Samuel Mashaba has been suspended for the second time over the same cocaine bust that cost him his job in 2021.
The Gauteng Premier’s Office confirmed the suspension following three days of testimony at the Madlanga Commission. A formal disciplinary process is now under way.
Mashaba was first suspended in July 2021 after his arrest following a controversial drug operation in Aeroton, south of Johannesburg. Officers seized more than 700 kilograms of cocaine worth hundreds of millions of rand. But the state failed to conclude a disciplinary inquiry within a reasonable time, and the General Public Service Sector Bargaining Council ruled in April 2022 that keeping him suspended had become an unfair labour practice. He was reinstated.
The criminal charges were not thrown out on merit. They were withdrawn prospectively in court. The Independent Police Investigative Directorate had an investigation into Mashaba and other officers involved in the operation at the time of his return.
None of that stopped him going back to work.
The Madlanga Commission then heard how Mashaba got involved in the Aeroton operation in the first place.
A man named Tumelo Nku told him about a truck carrying cocaine from Durban to Johannesburg. Instead of passing that information to specialised police units, Mashaba travelled to Johannesburg and joined the operation himself. Traffic officers are not authorised to run high-level drug investigations.
WhatsApp messages shown to the commission revealed that Nku regularly sent money to Mashaba. The messages suggest some of that money went to people Mashaba called his “boys”.
Co-commissioner Sisi Baloyi pressed him on the payments. Mashaba said he could not remember the conversations. Baloyi was not satisfied.
“You just won’t recall for us. You won’t. There is a big difference between not wanting to tell us and genuinely not remembering,” she told him.
Gauteng government spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga said the testimony had crossed a line.
“The admissions made before the commission may amount to serious breaches of the Public Service Code of Conduct, departmental policies and applicable laws,” Mhlanga said.
Nku is expected to appear before the commission next week.
Pictured above: Gauteng Traffic Police Chief Inspector Samuel Mashaba leaves the Madlanga Commission after three days of testimony about his role in the 2021 Aeroton cocaine bust.
Image source: A screenshot of the live broadcast
