What started as an effort to replace a stolen coffee machine has become one of the most remarkable public displays of support for a police officer in recent years.
Within days of being cleared by the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry, veteran Hawks narcotics investigator Warrant Officer Karl Sander found himself at the centre of a fundraising campaign that has attracted more than R200,000 from South Africans determined to recognise his decades of service.
The BackaBuddy campaign was initially launched with a modest target of R5,000 to replace a coffee machine stolen from Sander's office. Instead, donations poured in from across the country, transforming a simple gesture into a broader show of appreciation for an officer many believe was unfairly targeted.
The surge in support followed explosive testimony before the Madlanga Commission, where Sander detailed what he described as a hostile working environment within the Hawks and the personal toll of a years-long saga linked to the theft of 541kg of cocaine worth about R200 million from a Hawks storage facility in Port Shepstone in 2021.
For years, the respected KwaZulu-Natal investigator found himself under suspicion despite maintaining his innocence. During his testimony, Sander revealed that he was subjected to a polygraph examination after his own coffee machine disappeared from his office.
