Suspended Gauteng Traffic Police chief inspector died on 13 October 2026. The questions he faced remain largely unresolved.
Suspended Gauteng Traffic Police Chief Inspector Samuel Mashaba has died. The Gauteng Provincial Government confirmed on Tuesday that he died on 13 October at Milpark Hospital while receiving medical care. The cause of death has not been disclosed, and it would be wrong to speculate until it is confirmed. Premier Panyaza Lesufi conveyed condolences to the Mashaba family and to his colleagues in the Gauteng Traffic Police and the broader law enforcement community.
Who he was
For most of the public, Mashaba became a familiar name only in June 2026, when he took the stand at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry. The commission, chaired by retired Constitutional Court Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga, is probing criminality, political interference and corruption in South Africa’s criminal justice system. Mashaba’s testimony centred on a 2021 drug seizure in Aeroton, south of Johannesburg.
What led to his testimony
In July 2021, Mashaba received a tip-off about a large drug consignment. Evidence before the commission suggested that he and an informant tracked a truck carrying more than 700 kilograms of cocaine from Durban to Johannesburg, where it was intercepted in Aeroton. The haul has been valued at roughly R286 million to R300 million, depending on the report. Businessman Tumelo Nku and Warrant Officers Marumo Magane and Steve Phakula were also part of the interception.
The central issue was why a traffic officer was involved in a high-level narcotics operation. Evidence leaders asked why he had not stopped the truck at the Heidelberg weighbridge, which fell under his authority, or reported the operation through official police channels. Other witnesses gave conflicting accounts of whether he had any jurisdiction at the scene. He asked to testify partly in camera, citing health concerns, but the commission refused the application.
Questions answered
- Limits of his powers. Under questioning, Mashaba conceded that his reading of the Criminal Procedure Act did not give him unlimited police powers beyond his traffic-policing mandate. Earlier he had maintained there was no real difference between the duties of a traffic officer and a police officer.
- Money from Nku. WhatsApp exchanges dating back to 2019 showed that Nku often sent Mashaba money, which Mashaba used to pay people he referred to as his “boys”. He claimed not to remember most of these exchanges, which the commission challenged.
- Admissions of misconduct. The Office of the Premier said he made admissions that may amount to serious breaches of the Public Service Code of Conduct, including alleged misuse of official powers, departmental resources and state assets. He was placed on precautionary suspension on 14 June and told to surrender his phones, firearms and laptop.
- A second suspension. Reports noted that he had previously been suspended in 2021 over the same bust, reinstated through arbitration, and then suspended again after his testimony.
Questions left unanswered
- The Mabuza message. He initially denied that one of his messages referred to the late former deputy president David Mabuza, accepting only that the commission suggested otherwise. At one point Justice Madlanga told him he was being untruthful.
- The Faith Mazibuko link. Questioned about a message urging that “Faith” be looked after, he said he was close to Gauteng MEC Faith Mazibuko and believed his treatment would improve when she returned. He also moved to clear her name. The significance of the exchange was never settled publicly.
- The Feroz Khan dispute. Mashaba accused Crime Intelligence deputy head Major General Feroz Khan of disrupting the operation, orchestrating the arrests and trying to take credit for the bust. Khan’s account and the commission’s findings on the clash are still to come.
- The money trail. What the payments from Nku were really for, and the full nature of their relationship, was still being tested when the story took this turn. Nku was due to testify after Mashaba.
- The disciplinary process. The formal disciplinary process that followed his suspension will presumably fall away, leaving the questions about his conduct without that avenue of resolution.
What happens now
The commission’s work continues, and its findings on the Aeroton bust will have to be made without Mashaba’s further input. Whether his evidence is treated as complete, and how it is weighed against that of Nku, Khan and others, will become clear only when the commission reports. Until the cause of his death is confirmed by the authorities or his family, no conclusions should be drawn about it.
