Madlanga Commission | Suspended Hawks head Lesetja Senona hints at legal action over inquiry findings

Suspended Hawks KwaZulu-Natal head Major-General Lesetja Senona giving evidence at the Madlanga Judicial Commission of Inquiry on Friday.

Image: Oupa Mokoena / Independent Newspapers

Suspended KwaZulu-Natal Hawks head Major-General Lesetja Senona has hinted that he may take the final report of the Madlanga Judicial Commission of Inquiry on review should it contain adverse findings against him.

On Friday, Senona returned to give evidence at the commission, chaired by retired Constitutional Court Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga, on the storage and later theft of 541kg of suspected cocaine with a street value of about R200 million from the Hawks' office in Port Shepstone in November 2021.

Commissioner Advocate Sandile Khumalo SC asked Senona about a complaint filed with the Hawks’ national head office in which the complainant could not be located due to a bogus or non-existent email address.

“Although it is not raised in the regulation 10(6) notice, but I will assist,” Senona said.

Khumalo interjected, stating: “Can I just say something because you keep repeating this issue? You get 10(6) notices from the evidence leaders and the attorneys. When commissioners are sitting here, they might look at a file and see a document, and if they consider that document to be relevant, they will ask you a question on it.

“So I hope you won’t keep saying ‘because it’s not in the 10(6), I take issue with the question that is being asked’ because we’re here to establish facts.”

According to Khumalo, in a regulation 10(6) notice, the commission cannot put everything that is all the relevant files, otherwise the notice would run up to 50 pages.

“You’re given the substance of what you will be questioned on, but the actual detail, as I look at this document, for example, I recall something that somebody said, I may be the only person that recalls it and then I ask you to clarify that issue, so there I don’t see why you say ‘it’s not in the 10(6)’. I just wanted to clarify that,” he added.

In his response, Senona said he was just placing it on the record that he was going to answer Khumalo’s clarity-seeking question.

“It’s just that certain things need to be placed on record; I was legally advised that the commission’s findings might be put under review,” Senona explained.

Justice Madlanga said he had already seen from the opening remarks of Senona’s legal representative, Advocate Dali Mpofu SC, that there was a possibility that the commission’s findings might be taken on review.

Senona said he wanted to put on the record certain issues so that it does not arise later that he never raised them.

Earlier, Mpofu told the commission that his client had serious concerns about the commission’s unfair treatment.

He said the commission was enjoined to treat every witness fairly and cited its serial refusal to furnish Senona and his legal team with information, its nonchalant response, no response at all, or an unreasonable response.

Mpofu said the commission effectively told Senona in its response to requests for more information: “You don’t have to know what other people have said about you, just say what you know.”

He described this response as arrogant. Mpofu added that Senona felt very passionate about the issue of relevance as the commission is legally confined to its mandate and terms of reference.

“The commission is not a surrogate disciplinary committee of the police,” he explained, adding that Senona is willing to assist the commission but under serious protest.

Evidence leader, Advocate Mahlape Sello SC, denied that there was serial refusal to produce documents by the commission and that Senona does not make this allegation in his statement.

Sello said that not a single document that the evidence leaders have been requested to produce has not been produced.

Commissioner Advocate Sesi Baloyi SC also defended the inquiry, saying no witness has been given statements of other witnesses who are yet to testify, and that this was the general practice.

The commission continues.

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