Yellow Jersey Logistics

Mr Nku shared coordinates of Yellow Jersey Logistics with Chief Mashabatha around midnight while still en route.

“I shared the coordinates to Yellow Jersey Logistics with Chief Mashabatha... around about 12 a.m., as I was still on my way back.”

Mr Nku provided information about Yellow Jersey Logistics to Chief Mashaba; the decision to move the scene elsewhere was made without Mr Nku's presence.

“The sin that I provided was Yellow Jersey Logistics . That is the sin that I provided to Chief Mashaba . That is why all the relevant information was given to the two . It relates to Yellow Jersey Logistics . To move the sin elsewhere , it is a decision taken in my absence .”

Mr Nku assumed from the time of leaving Yellow Jersey Logistics, that Chief Mashaba might have wanted him at the scene to act as crime scene manager, which prevented him from leaving earlier.

“From the initial point of leaving Yellow Jersey Logistics, I assume after the fact that maybe the reason why Chief Mashaba might have wanted me was for this crime scene manager, because that is what stopped me from leaving.”

There was a communication linkage between Tumelo Nku and a Yellow Jersey Logistics employee on 8 July 2021 when Tumelo Nku was in Durban.

“There was a communication linkage between Tumelo Nku and the Yellow Jersey Logistic employee on the 2021-7-08 while Tumelo Nku was in the vicinity of Durban.”

Calls were made from Tumelo Nku to the Yellow Jersey Logistics employee's cellphone and later to a landline belonging to Yellow Jersey Logistics, showing Tumelo Nku had the landline number to contact.

“The first three calls were made to the employee's cellphone number... Then later on, they changed to the land line... indicated that the land line number belonged to Yellow Jersey Logistics.”

Analysis of the call data in an analyst notebook program confirms calls between Tumelo Nku and Sandra Engelbrecht of Yellow Jersey Logistics at specified times.

“The directon of the arrows indicates the person or subject who received the call . The blue arrows represents the calls received by Yellow Jersey ... Sandra Engelbrecht ... The first call was at 17:16:54 and the second call was at 17:18:19”

Images found on Tumelo Nku's phone included a computer screen with a Transnet logo matching a Yellow Jersey Logistics truck found at the crime scene in Aeroton.

“There were images discovered from Tumelo Nku's phone of a computer screen with a Transnet logo ... The details on the image were compared to the Yellow Jersey Logistics truck found on the crime scene at Aeroton”

The registration and company name of the Yellow Jersey Logistics truck found at Aeroton match those seen on the image found on Tumelo Nku's phone, confirming he had information about the truck and container.

“The registration and the company name is the same as it appears on the computer screen ... This confirms what was on Tumelo's phone”

Photos on Tumelo Nku's official photo album from LCRC show he took photos close to the Yellow Jersey Logistics truck found at the crime scene, contradicting witness Magane's claim that Nku was 300 meters away from the truck.

“One of the witnesses, Magane, said Nku was never close to the truck . He was 300 metres away ... Looking at the photo on page 25 and 26, it suggests that he was very close to the truck when he was taking these photos ... the photos ... extracted from the photo album the official photo album from LCRC”

Samuel Mashaba sent a location to Marumo Joseph Magane at 6:40:53 seconds, and the location was that of Yellow Jersey Logistics, Roodekop as per Google map.

“Samuel Mashaba then sent a location to Marumo Joseph Magane with cell phone number at 6:40:53 seconds. The location was that of Yellow Jersey Logistics, Roodekop as per the Google map.”

Digital evidence including WhatsApp and Telegram messages show consistent communication between Tumelo Nku and Samuel Mashaba regarding containers suspected to conceal illicit goods and logistics around transport and retrieval.

“The analysis of the extracted handset data, WhatsApp chats, Telegram messages, Three mac screenshot images, call data records and movement reports indicates a consistent pattern of communication and utility between Tumelo Nku, and Samuel Mashaba and other identified individuals ... The Three mac communications show repeated references to containers, vessels, Pier 1, Customs, seals, truckers, transporters, and stuff ... The communications further indicate that Tumelo Nku, using the alias Philipp Plein, was in direct communication with the user identified as Alpha ... The cell phone data records places Tumelo Nku in the vicinity of Durban and KwaZulu-Natal during relevant periods when the Three mac conversations concerning containers and port activities took place, including May 2021 and July 2021 ... The Telegram communications between Tumelo Nku and Samuel Mashaba, including the shared route to Yellow Jersey Logistics, together with call data records and images found on Tumelo Nku's device, establish a further linkage between the subjects, Yellow Jersey Logistics and the container later found at Aeroton crime scene ... The images recovered from Tumelo Nku's device, including images of bags wrapped in black tape and images reflecting container or transport information, further corroborate the communication and movement analysis relating to the container and its contents ... The call data records analysed in respect of Tumelo Nku, Yellow Jersey Logistics, Sandra Engelbrecht, Samuel Mashaba, Warrant Officer Phokungwana, and Marumo Joseph Magane show communication linkages before and on the day of the incident, including the sharing of locations and contact numbers relevant to Yellow Jersey Logistics and the movement of the container ... The WhatsApp and Telegram communications between Tumelo Nku and Samuel Mashaba establishes that there was an existing relationship between them prior to the incident and that their communication included... The totality of the digital evidence analysed indicates that Tumelo Nku played an active role in monitoring, facilitating, and communicating about the movement of containers from the port of Durban to Gauteng, and that it was linked to communication and movement data to other persons relevant to Booysen's CAS ... The digital evidence supports the existence of a coordinated network of individuals communicating across encrypted messaging applications and ordinary cellular platforms in relation to the movement of containers, transport arrangements, and the suspected retrieval of illicit goods.”

Chief Mashaba states he received GPS coordinates from Mr Nku via Telegram on 9 July 2021 to Yellow Jersey Logistics in Roodekop for an operation involving intercepting a truck.

“Samuel Mashaba received a location from Mr Nku through the Telegram of where they should go, and the coordinates are that of Yellow Jersey Logistics in Roodekop”

Chief Mashaba states that at Yellow Jersey Logistics, police officers were told they did not have necessary paperwork (such as search and seizure warrant) to access the container/truck, and to open the container at the client's premises instead.

“No, they said it, what if you open here and then we get in trouble with the client, rather preferably go and open it at the client.”

Advocate Baloyi SC challenges how Chief Mashaba could take instructions from Yellow Jersey managerial staff when he is conducting a law enforcement operation on their property involving narcotics.

“How do you take instructions from the Yellow Jersey people not to conduct an operation. Here you are in a lawful operation. Let us assume this is a lawful operation. How do you get told by the people that, according to you, at that point are in possession, because Yellow Jersey is in possession at that time, because this is their property.”

Chief Mashaba went to Yellow Jersey Logistics with a civilian and without any official police team or backup.

“you say when you went to the Yellow Jersey Logistics, you did not go with the police officer. Yes. So you went there with the civilian, or you met the civilian there. You met Mr Nkute here, correct ?”

Chief Mashaba did not instruct or mandate his team at the weighbridge to pull over the vehicle linked to an investigation, choosing instead to verify information first and act accordingly.

“why do you got to Yellow Jersey Logistics without the SAPS member ... but you cannot mobilize your official team at the weighbridge to look out for this vehicle and pull it over? ... Because the information came to me. I wanted to verify. If I saw it fit, nothing would have stopped me to call my team.”

Yellow Jersey Logistics transported a container to Scania in Aeroton; Mashaba and Magane introduced themselves as Crime Intelligence officers but are not Crime Intelligence members.

“The directors of the company Yellow Jersey Logistics, which is the company that was transporting this container to Scania in Aeroton, they say Mashaba and Magane introduced themselves as Crime Intelligence. Were you aware of that? No, I am not, Commissioner.... Mashaba is not from Crime Intelligence, he is a Traffic Officer from Sedibeng. And Magane is a CIMA analyst based in Zonkizizwe. He is not Crime Intelligence. Even if he was Crime Intelligence, he is not operational, he is desk-based. So he would have no business asking to open containers.”

Warrant Officer Magane arrived within 30 minutes to assist Chief Mashaba and Mr Nku, drove a Nissan NP300 bakkie, after which they went to Yellow Jersey Logistics premises to conduct a search on the truck.

“He arrived where I was with Mr Nku ... He was driving his official vehicle, a Nissan NP300 bakkie ... after briefing him ... Mr Nku narrated the information again ... He then decided we would go to the premises of Yellow Jersey Logistics where the truck was allegedly parked ... We approached the premises and asked for a Depot Manager ... We informed him that we wanted to conduct a search on one of the trucks in the premises ... He agreed and confirmed the truck in question was still in the premises ...”

Hardus expressed concern about allowing police to break seals at Yellow Jersey Logistics as the customer might have an issue with it.

“Hardus told us that he would have a problem allowing us to break the seals at Yellow Jersey Logistics as the customer might have an issue with that.”

Police officers escorted a truck to Scania's office in Aeroton for search with representatives including Warrant Officer Magane and Mr Nku.

“We were then accompanied or escorted by Yellow Jersey Logistics security to Scania's office in Aeroton. As such, it was me, Warrant Officer Magane in the black Nissan bakkie belonging to the state, Mr Nku's BMW, as well as the Yellow Jersey escort bakkie that went with the truck to Scania at Aeroton.”

Samuel Mashaba sent the location of Yellow Jersey Logistics to Warrant Officer Magane via Telegram on the same date, confirmed by Google Earth coordinates (pindrop).

“Samuel Mashaba sent Warrant Officer Magane the location of Yellow Jersey that was confirmed by Google Earth . Because he sent the pin drop. Then that pin drop happened to be at Yellow Jersey Logistics, Commissioners”

On 9th July 2021, Samuel Mashaba sent three Telegram messages including coordinates of Yellow Jersey and a message stating 'We need to go' before 06:30 on the 8th July.

“And there you detail the three messages, right? So the first one is Mr Nku sending to Mr Mashaba the coordinates of Yellow Jersey. ... And then there is also a message that is sent by Mr Nku, and the body of the message says: “We need to go.” ... And then there is a third message that was also retrieved, which is before 06:30. That is the last one.”

Warrant Officer Magane received a call from Chief Mashaba about the drugs container; Chief Mashaba had received the information from his informer. They first went to Roodekop at Yellow Jersey Logistics, found the container, then escorted it to Aeroton for an expected client.

“I was informed by Warrant Officer Magane that he received a call from Chief Mashaba about a container with drugs and Chief Mashaba received the information from Chief Mashaba's informer. They first went to Roodekop at Yellow Jersey Logistics and found the container there and then they escorted it to Aeroton so the client was expecting the order.”

Warrant Officer Magane acknowledges that with hindsight he should have stopped and called the necessary people to attend to the crime scene as soon as he saw the exhibits falling off the black bags.

“ADV MOSIKILI, WARRANT OFFICER MAGANE”