By Palesa Matlala
- A Hawks investigator was polygraphed over 541kg of cocaine stolen from police storage while he was on leave, then moved to desk duty.
- Strangers raised R180,547 in a single day to replace the coffee machine stolen from the same officer inside his own Hawks offices.
A Hawks investigator who spent years being treated like a suspect inside his own organisation was cleared by a commission of inquiry on Tuesday. Strangers had already made up their minds about him days earlier, and sent him R165,167 to prove it.
Warrant Officer Karl Sander testified before the Madlanga Commission that he was polygraphed over the theft of 541kg of cocaine from a Hawks storage facility in Port Shepstone, even though he was on leave when the drugs disappeared. The cocaine, seized at Durban Harbour in June 2021, was valued at more than R200-million.
The commission has now confirmed that the polygraph test was worthless. An administrative review found critical errors made by the examiner. The results were thrown out.
Sander was formally exonerated on 2 June 2026.
But the commission also heard something that landed differently. Sander told the inquiry that after exposing individuals linked to drug trafficking, he was pulled from the Narcotics Unit and put on desk duty. He then discovered that someone had stolen his coffee machine from inside Hawks offices.
“My only safe space was my coffee machine and then they stole my coffee machine inside the Hawks,” he said.
When his testimony went public, South Africans responded. A BackaBuddy campaign raised R180,547. Over 826 people donated and the numbers keep rising by the hour.
Sander said he found some humour in it. The size of the response suggested others did not find it funny at all.
The commission also heard from Crime Intelligence officer Lieutenant Colonel Justice Jabulani Duma, who said the theft of the cocaine from police custody was a disgrace to the SAPS.
“We are trying to get drugs off the streets and they end up back on the streets under police watch,” he said.
Former KwaZulu-Natal Hawks head Major General Lesetja Senona, who was present when the drugs were booked into storage but was not polygraphed, is expected to appear before the commission on Friday.
Pictured above: Hawks investigator Warrant Officer Karl Sander breaks down during testimony before the Madlanga Commission after learning the polygraph used against him was found to be fatally flawed.
Image source: Screenshot of the live broadcast on SABC News.
This article has been updated.
