KwaZulu-Natal Hawks head Major-General Lesetja Senona came under scrutiny at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry on Wednesday for sharing confidential police information, including ID numbers, with suspected crime kingpin Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala. 

This was after Senona had emphatically stated during Tuesday’s testimony that he would never share police-held information with anyone, saying he was bound by the SAPS oath.

However, on Wednesday, it emerged Senona had forwarded an affidavit with personal information on alleged kidnapper Esmael Nangy to Matlala.

The affidavit in question contained hefty attachments bearing confidential information on some SAPS officers and Hawks officers in KZN under Senona’s supervision.

Senona told the commission that he sent the affidavit to Matlala “to sensitise him to be aware of this gentleman in his area (Centurion) that was arrested for kidnapping and extortion”.

But, co-commissioner Advocate Sesi Baloyi SC wanted to know how Senona obtained confidential documents and why he sent them to a private citizen.

“We have documents that are official state documents and you sent them to a private citizen who is your friend/brother who is accused of involvement in serious alleged crimes. What we are doing is that we are battling to get an understanding of how it is that you gained possession of these documents that you forwarded,” she said.

Baloyi expressed shock that Senona shared a document containing Nangy’s ID, picture, and personal details, including his marriage certificate, with Matlala.

“This is highly personal information which, in a different context, you are precluded by the Protection of Personal Information Act from distributing further and sharing it with Mr Matlala,” she said.

She slammed Senona’s actions, saying sharing such personal information with Matlala, accused of serious crimes, showed “at best, a lack of judgement if it wasn’t deliberate”. 

Senona stuck to his story, claiming he did not notice the additional attachments with other people’s personal information when he shared the affidavit with Matlala. 

Advocate Sandile Khumalo SC, co-commissioner, highlighted that Senona also shared confidential information on SAPS detectives and crime intelligence officials, including their ID numbers, with Matlala. 

Khumalo also asked him: “If someone leaks information, is it not your responsibility to say whoever leaked the letter made a mistake and I shouldn’t be doing that?” 

That was after Senona’s claim that he obtained the documents from a News24 website or via WhatsApp was disputed during testimony, adding that he shared them because they were already in the public domain.

The commission pointed out that the News24 article merely stated the writer had seen the affidavit, with no attachment.

The commission highlighted that Senona shared confidential documents in March 2025 despite having top security clearance that explicitly barred him from doing so.

It also emerged that Matlala sent Senona confidential documents about the Senzo and Thembeka Mchunu foundation, including a top-secret document on President Cyril Ramaphosa and a corruption article on Rustenburg Local Municipality, after one of their meetings. Senona surprisingly claimed he did not open or read them, unaware of their contents. 

Despite the fact that Senona had referred to Matlala as his brother and friend, he claimed he did not know Matlala was involved in the Tembisa hospital tender scandal linked to whistleblower Barbita Deokaran’s murder. 

He claimed he only learned of Matlala’s link to the Tembisa hospital scandal through commission-shared newspaper articles.

Justice Mbuyisile Madlanga grilled Senona on his selective memory, pointing out he often claimed not to recall details implicating Matlala, only acknowledging issues when confronted with evidence. 

“A theme that runs through your statement is that when it comes to anything concerning Mr Matlala when you look at the text it is either you don’t recall or you do not know and it is is a text stirring you in your face you will say ‘yes I do read it now but I do not recall what this was all about’. That is a theme that runs through your testimony,” he said.

Madlanga poked holes in Senona’s testimony, saying he seemed to conveniently “not recall” key events, like the Durban apartment meeting.

On Tuesday, Senona testified that the Durban apartment meeting was hosted by KwaZulu-Natal commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi on April 15, 2025, at his homestead to discuss Matlala’s purchase order disputes related to his Medicare 24’s R360-million SAPS medical service  contract to SAPS Pretoria College. 

The meeting was allegedly organised by former Police Minister Bheki Cele, and Senona was asked by Matlala to accompany him to the meeting for “morale support”. Cele was not present at the meeting.

Senona claimed he missed parts of the discussion at the Durban meeting as he was busy refilling his whiskey and moving between rooms. 

He said Mkhwanazi agreed to help Matlala with purchase orders and offered to pause an investigation into an attempted murder case if Matlala provided information on Lieutenant General Shadrack Sibiya.

Regarding criticisms about his selective memory, he said: “Commissioners, I am a human being. I am subjected to characteristics of a human being. If I don’t remember and it gives the commissioners a concern it is an unfortunate situation.”

rapula.moatshe@inl.co.za

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