Hearing record
Day 39
The scheduled witness, KwaZulu-Natal Hawks head Major-General Lesetja Senona, did not testify on 26 November 2025. His legal team objected that the documents he had been given and his readiness to proceed were insufficient, exposing weeks of behind-the-scenes wrangling over disclosure.
The day in brief
What you need to know
- Maj-Gen Lesetja Senona was set to testify but his appearance was postponed after his lawyers raised objections over documents and preparation time.
- The standoff had been running behind the scenes for weeks before spilling into open session, touching disclosure, procedure and whether he should take the stand at all.
- Senona's team argued he had been prejudiced by the commission's late provision of evidence.
- By day's end an agreement was reached: Senona confirmed he held the documents he needed and was ordered to file a sworn statement addressing a 13 November subpoena by 16 January 2026.
- He was directed to appear on 27 January 2026 to testify and be questioned.
- Justice Madlanga signalled that once Senona took the stand he would be required to testify through to completion.
- All persons referenced are presumed innocent unless and until convicted by a competent court.
Full coverage
The day, in depth
A postponement, not a walk-away
According to EWN and The Mercury, Senona's testimony was postponed on 26 November after his legal team told the commission he was not ready to proceed and objected to the state of disclosure. Reports described a legal standoff that had simmered for weeks over what documents had been shared and whether the alleged senior officer should testify at all.
The terms of the deal
By the close of proceedings an arrangement was recorded. Senona was confirmed to be in possession of the documents he required to prepare his statement, was ordered to furnish a sworn statement addressing a subpoena dated 13 November 2025 on or before 16 January 2026, and was directed to appear to testify and be questioned on 27 January 2026. Briefly and eNCA reported his team's framing that the commission had treated him unfairly by failing to provide evidence on time.
Our analysis
The bottom line
A commission lives and dies by its paper trail, so a fight over disclosure is not a sideshow, it is the machinery working. Senona's objection that he lacked adequate documents and time cuts to a real fairness principle: a witness facing pointed allegations is entitled to see the case he must answer before he answers it. Recording that objection on the open record, rather than papering over it, protects the credibility of whatever he eventually says.
At the same time the resolution shows the commission holding its line. Confirming Senona had his documents, setting hard deadlines and fixing a January return date converts an open-ended dispute into a bounded one. The chairperson's reported insistence that Senona testify to completion signals the inquiry will not let procedural skirmishing become a permanent exit ramp.
None of this speaks to the substance of any allegation against Senona, which remains untested. The day was about the conditions under which testimony can fairly be taken, and on that narrow question both the witness's rights and the commission's authority were, for now, accommodated.
Analysis is the archive’s own comment on the public proceedings, grounded in the record above. It weighs the evidence and the process; questions of individual guilt are for the courts and the commission to decide. Everyone named is presumed innocent.
In the room & on the record
Counsel, the panel and sources
On the panel
- Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga (chairperson)
Sources
- EWN - Madlanga Commission: KZN Hawks head Senona's testimony postponed (26 Nov 2025) ↗
- The Mercury - Back and forth: Why Senona's testimony was postponed at Madlanga Commission (26 Nov 2025) ↗
- Briefly - General Senona Claims Prejudice, Lawyers Say Commission Failed to Provide Evidence on Time (Nov 2025) ↗