By Johnathan Paoli
The Madlanga Commission resumed on Wednesday with a tense second day of testimony from KwaZulu-Natal Hawks head Major-General Lesetja Senona, as commissioners repeatedly grilled him about why he saw nothing wrong with his close relationship with alleged underworld figure and attempted murder accused, Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala.
Senona held to his position under questioning, despite commissioners pointing to a torrent of adverse media reports about Matlala.
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Evidence leader advocate Adila Hassim pressed Senona on his claimed ignorance of Matlala’s alleged criminal activities, including being implicated in the looting of Tembisa Hospital.
That looting was first exposed by whistleblower Babita Deokaran, the then acting chief financial officer in the Gauteng Department of Health, just weeks before she was assassinated in 2021.
Hassim asked directly whether Senona knew Deokaran’s name.
“Yes, I do,” he replied, confirming he was aware she had exposed corruption.
But he insisted he was “not aware” that Matlala was among those implicated, via his companies, in rigged Tembisa Hospital tenders.
When Hassim read from a February 2023 News24 investigation by journalist Jeff Wicks detailing the allegations against Matlala, Senona maintained he had not encountered the reporting at the time.
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Hassim accused him of evasion, saying the scandal was “gripping the country” and that Matlala had become “notorious”.
“I believe I’ve responded to this question. It’s coming again in a different way. I never came across these newspaper articles…and I’ve indicated if these newspaper articles came across me, I would have dealt with it…,” Senona responded.
Commissioner Sesi Baloyi said it was “difficult to accept” that Senona did not know who Deokaran had exposed.
Commissioner Sandile Khumalo went further, asking whether it was not “a red flag” for the provincial Hawks head to be friends with someone facing such allegations.
“Commissioners, if you don’t know anything, there’s no red flag about it unless you were aware of it. Is there anyone in this room, when you have a friend, one goes and says: ‘Let me profile this friend of mine to see what type of a person he is?’” Senona responded, when asked why he had not profiled Matlala.
He insisted profiling was only justified when someone was the subject of an investigation.
Pressed about Matlala’s attempted murder case relating to the failed hit on his former lover, and a December 2024 raid on his home, Senona said he only knew about a firearm inspection and that Matlala never disclosed the raid to him.
He added that he only learnt of Matlala’s criminal record when it was read into the record at the ad hoc committee in 2025.
Despite repeated questioning, Senona maintained his stance.
Commissioner Baloyi concluded that Senona “saw nothing wrong” with continuing a close relationship with a man he knew was being investigated for attempted murder, after the general refused to give a direct answer.
The commission continues.
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