Former Hawks Head Godfrey Lebeya Set for Cross-Examination at Madlanga Commission

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Retired former Hawks head Godfrey Lebeya is expected to face cross-examination at the Madlanga Commission on Tuesday. The commission had been scheduled to hear testimony from Crime Intelligence Deputy Commissioner Feroz Khan. However, Khan’s legal team has filed an application for a postponement after he was hospitalised over the weekend. The commission has yet to consider the application, with Khan’s legal representative arriving late on Tuesday morning. Meanwhile, Lebeya is expected to be questioned about allegations that he deployed Hawks officers to interfere with a police operation to arrest businessman Katiso Molefe, who is facing murder charges, in December 2024. Lebeya previously told the commission that he acted after receiving a call from a concerned civilian, Malcolm X, who alerted him to reports that individuals claiming to be Hawks officers were at the scene. “I do not know Mr Katiso Molefe. I was not contacted by Mr Katiso Molefe; I was contacted by Malcolm X. I directed two senior managers to verify the allegations of persons who were said to be claiming to be members of the DPCI and to have been sent by me,” Lebeya explained. Questions Over Missing Cocaine Lebeya was also questioned about the theft of more than 500 kilograms of cocaine from the Hawks’ offices in Port Shepstone, KwaZulu-Natal, in November 2021. Previous testimony before the commission described the incident as an alleged “inside job”. The cocaine, estimated to have a street value of more than R200 million, had been intercepted at a shipping container depot near Durban in June 2021. It was subsequently moved to the Hawks’ Port Shepstone offices, more than 100 kilometres away. The drugs were stored at the facility despite its security systems reportedly being dysfunctional. Former KwaZulu-Natal Hawks head Lesetja Senona testified about the matter in June this year, shortly before resigning from his position. Senona told the commission that he had informed Lebeya about the movement of the drugs. Lebeya, however, maintained that he was unaware that the consignment had been moved. Evidence leader Advocate Lee Segeels-Ncube put the conflicting accounts to Lebeya. “Because it's either that General Senona is lying, or you're lying, or you're both mistaken about what transpired,” Segeels-Ncube said. Lebeya responded: “I can't say that he is lying. And then, I can't recall him informing me as to where he has stored the drugs. So that—that is the view that I had, that he did not inform me.” Lebeya’s cross-examination is expected to further examine the circumstances surrounding the December 2024 police operation, as well as questions raised about the handling and subsequent disappearance of the cocaine.

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