MADLANGA COMMISSION: DD or didn’t he? Cocaine bust witness questioned about apparent David Mabuza message

Political connections have been the focus of the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry, where a Gauteng traffic official – initially testifying about a R286m cocaine interception – was grilled on whether his message referenced the late former deputy president, David Mabuza.

Gauteng traffic official Samuel Mashaba, whose involvement in a controversial cocaine bust is under scrutiny, has faced intense questioning this week before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry about former deputy president David “DD” Mabuza.

Mashaba initially denied the stance that one of his messages to an associate referenced Mabuza, who died last year, but accepted that the commission suggested otherwise.

He continued testifying for the third consecutive day on Friday, 12 June 2026.

Mashaba seemed to have a tough time answering questions put to him, sometimes saying he could not recall the context behind messages that he had previously received and sent.

At some point on Friday, commission chair Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga said to him: “You are being untruthful.”

Mashaba was called as a witness to the commission because he was among four individuals arrested several years ago in connection with a R286-million cocaine interception.

That cocaine consignment was shipped from Brazil to Durban while concealed in Scania truck parts.

From Durban, it was transported to Aeroton, a Johannesburg industrial area, where it was controversially intercepted on 9 July 2021.

The four arrested over this were Mashaba; local businessman Tumelo Nku; Warrant Officer Marumo Magane of the Zonkizizwe Police Station in Gauteng; and Warrant Officer Steve Phakula, a National Investigation Unit member.

There were some suspicions that instead of intercepting the cocaine in a proper crackdown, as they said, the four had intended to sneak the consignment to an undisclosed location before other police officers arrived at the Aeroton scene.

Daily Maverick previously reported that the court case against the four was subsequently withdrawn.

Mashaba has described Nku as something of an informant who had information on the Aeroton cocaine.

On Thursday, it emerged that Mashaba was part of curious operations in 2019 targeting gold and stolen US dollars at OR Tambo International Airport.

It was essentially put to him that he had assembled a team, including South African Police Service (SAPS) officers, to act on Nku’s behalf to try to recover the dollars. (He would have been paid for this.)

Commissioner Sesi Baloyi SC put it to Mashaba: “So, you organised SAPS members to provide services at a fee for a civilian outsid