Madlanga Commission hearing record
Day 47 of the Madlanga Commission
Witness: Major General Lesetja Senona
KZN Hawks provincial head Major General Lesetja Senona takes the stand, opening testimony on how a record 541kg cocaine seizure worth about R200 million came to be stored at the Port Shepstone Serious Organised Crime office - the facility from which it later vanished.
The day in brief
What you need to know
- Major General Lesetja Senona, provincial head of the KZN Hawks (DPCI), began his evidence on the Port Shepstone cocaine theft.
- The case concerns roughly 541kg of cocaine, valued at about R200 million, seized in a June 2021 Durban operation and later found missing from a Hawks strongroom.
- Senona is reported to have acknowledged that he directed that the seized drugs be taken to the Port Shepstone facility.
- His account intersects with those of Brigadier Campbell Nyuswa, Colonel Gavin Jacob, Warrant Officer Karl Sander and retired Lieutenant Colonel Jakobus Prinsloo.
- Evidence before the commission has raised the question of whether the disappearance was an internal act rather than a simple security lapse, a matter that remains untested and unproven.
Full coverage
The day, in depth
A record seizure and a missing consignment
The commission heard evidence tracing the drugs to a June 2021 operation in Durban in which about 541kg of cocaine, with an estimated street value near R200 million, was seized. The consignment was subsequently stored at the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation's Serious Organised Crime office in Port Shepstone, KwaZulu-Natal. The cocaine was later reported missing from what was meant to be a secure strongroom.
Senona takes the stand
Senona, the provincial head of the KZN Hawks, opened his testimony on the storage decision and the chain of events around it. According to reporting on his evidence, he indicated that he had directed that the drugs be moved to the Port Shepstone office. The commission's terms of reference include allegations of criminality and corruption in the criminal justice system, and Senona's testimony was presented as part of that inquiry, not as any finding against him.
Our analysis
The bottom line
Senona's appearance places a senior Hawks commander at the centre of the Port Shepstone narrative. The archive treats him as a witness giving an account on the public record, and nothing in his testimony amounts to a finding of wrongdoing. The value of his evidence lies in mapping how a major seizure moved through the DPCI's custody chain.
The threads the commission is following - who chose the storage site, who held the keys, and who was asked to sit polygraphs - are questions of process and accountability. They matter because a record consignment disappeared from state custody, and the public record benefits from a clear, attributed account of each decision, wherever responsibility ultimately lies.
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.
On the record
Who testified this day
Follow the threads
Who Major General Lesetja Senona connects to
Lieutenant General Seswantsho Godfrey Lebeya
Senona ran the KwaZulu-Natal Hawks under Lebeya and directed that the seized cocaine be stored at Port Shepstone. His evidence is that he told Lebeya the office had safely stored a large quantity before; on Day 171 Lebeya said he was never told where the drugs were until after they were gone. Evidence leader Advocate Lee Segeels-Ncube put it that one of them must be lying or both mistaken. No finding has been made and both are presumed innocent.
View profile →The friendship Day 167 was spent onVusimuzi 'Cat' Matlala
Named among the affidavit omissions Matlala was recalled on Day 165 to explain, and the sole subject of Day 167 (26 August 2026). Matlala described Senona as an older brother, said the general lent him R20,000 after the 6 December 2024 raid on his home, confirmed WhatsApp advice of 13 May 2025 about challenging the Medicare24 cancellation, and refused to describe a flat bought with Senona and his son Thato. Untested; both presumed innocent.
View profile →Placed at his farm in Day 167 evidenceJotham 'King Mswazi' Msibi
Per Business Day, evidence on 26 August 2026 put Senona at the farm of the late taxi boss where Matlala's company rendered protection services. Msibi is dead; Senona is presumed innocent and no finding has been made.
View profile →Accompanied Matlala to a meeting with himLieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi
Per The Citizen and Business Day, Senona was present at the Umhlanga meeting of 15 April 2025 between Matlala and the KZN provincial commissioner. Matlala says Senona took no part in the tender discussion. Untested.
View profile →Consulted byBrigadier Campbell Nyuswa
Nyuswa testified Senona approved storing the cocaine at Port Shepstone and then took possession of both safe keys; Senona says Nyuswa initiated the polygraph applications.
View profile →Top of the chainColonel Gavin Jacob
Jacob's unit moved the drugs to the site Senona directed.
View profile →Signed his transferWarrant Officer Karl Sander
Senona signed Sander's Feb 2024 transfer letter and ordered his polygraphs; on 19 June he said Sander 'misled the commission'.
View profile →Accused of misleading the inquiryLieutenant Colonel Jakobus Prinsloo (retired)
Senona told the commission on 19 June that retired Lt-Col Prinsloo misled it over the Port Shepstone storage handling.
View profile →In the room & on the record
Counsel, the panel and sources
On the panel
- Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga (chairperson)