Madlanga Commission hearing record
Day 48 of the Madlanga Commission
Witness: Major General Lesetja Senona
Senona continues in the witness chair, with the commission drilling into the strongroom's security, the handling of the safe keys and the polygraph applications that followed the disappearance of the Port Shepstone cocaine.
The day in brief
What you need to know
- Major General Lesetja Senona continued his testimony on the Port Shepstone cocaine matter.
- The commission examined the security of the strongroom where the roughly 541kg consignment was held.
- Evidence touched on the control of the safe keys and who took possession of them after the drugs were locked away.
- The polygraph applications connected to the case were part of the day's threads, with Senona's account differing from other witnesses on who initiated them.
- Senona's evidence connects to that of Brigadier Campbell Nyuswa, who consulted him on moving the drugs, and Colonel Gavin Jacob, whose unit moved them.
Full coverage
The day, in depth
Scrutiny of a 'vulnerable' facility
The commission heard evidence characterising the Port Shepstone office as poorly suited to holding a consignment of this size and value. Questions focused on how a record cocaine haul came to sit in a facility whose security would later be called into doubt, and on the steps taken, or not taken, to safeguard it. All of this was presented as evidence to be weighed, not as established fact against any individual.
Keys, custody and polygraphs
A recurring theme was the control of the safe keys and the custody arrangements at the strongroom. The commission has heard that Senona took possession of the keys after the drugs were secured. Testimony also addressed the polygraph applications that followed, with Senona indicating that others initiated them, an account that sits alongside differing versions from fellow officers. These are contested points on the record, and the commission had not made findings.
Our analysis
The bottom line
Day 48 sharpened the focus from the decision to store the drugs to the mechanics of keeping them safe. The distinction matters: a case can turn on who physically controlled access to a strongroom and on the paperwork that was, or was not, completed. The archive records these as competing accounts rather than conclusions.
Where witnesses diverge - on who held the keys, who ordered polygraphs, and who completed the control documentation - the commission's task is to reconcile the record. For readers, the useful takeaway is not blame but the shape of the disagreement, which the commission will test against documents and other testimony.
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)