Madlanga Commission hearing record
Day 49 of the Madlanga Commission
Witness: Major General Lesetja Senona
On his third day, Senona told the commission he never underwent a polygraph test after the R200 million cocaine went missing, while acknowledging that he had directed the drugs be sent to Port Shepstone, capping a week of testimony on the seizure and its disappearance.
The day in brief
What you need to know
- Senona testified that he did not undergo a polygraph test after the cocaine went missing, despite the seniority of his role.
- He acknowledged that he had personally directed that the seized drugs be taken to Port Shepstone.
- His evidence framed the seizure and disappearance as one of the more serious custody failures in recent policing, while stopping short of any admission of wrongdoing.
- The account of who was polygraphed and who was not remained a live and contested issue on the record.
- Senona also referred to friction with KZN police commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi around this period, a matter reported alongside his testimony.
Full coverage
The day, in depth
'I sent the drugs, but I was not polygraphed'
According to reporting on the day's evidence, Senona told the commission that he never sat a polygraph test after the roughly R200 million in cocaine disappeared from the Port Shepstone strongroom, even as he confirmed that he had directed the consignment be sent there. He described a chain of events in which a record seizure ended in the drugs vanishing from a supposedly secure DPCI facility. The statements are his account on the public record and do not constitute a finding by the commission.
A contested custody trail
Senona's version was set against those of other officers involved in the storage and handling of the drugs. The commission has heard differing accounts of who initiated polygraph applications and who was responsible for the safe-key control documentation. Senona's testimony over these three days forms one part of a record the commission will weigh against documents and further witnesses before drawing any conclusion.
Our analysis
The bottom line
Senona's closing day distilled the tension at the heart of the Port Shepstone matter: a senior officer who acknowledges directing where a record consignment was stored, yet who says he was never subjected to the polygraph screening applied to others. That juxtaposition is what the commission must probe; it is not, on its own, evidence of misconduct.
The archive records Senona as a witness accounting for decisions made under his command. Whether the disappearance reflects a security failure, an internal act, or some combination is precisely what the inquiry exists to establish. Until it does, every name in this chain, Senona included, is entitled to the presumption of innocence, and the record should be read as testimony rather than verdict.
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)