KwaZulu-Natal Hawks head Major-General Lesetja Senona’s testimony has been postponed.
Image: Oupa Mokoena/Independent Newspapers
KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Hawks head Major-General Lesetja Senona’s testimony before the Madlanga Commission has been postponed after his legal representative reported ill.
Senona, who has faced scrutiny over the disappearance of cocaine valued at about R200 million from Hawks custody, had been expected to return to the commission on Friday.
His evidence is regarded as central to understanding how more than half a ton of seized drugs vanished from a supposedly secure police facility.
Commission evidence leader Advocate Mahlape Sello informed proceedings on Thursday that Senona had been stood down after the commission received notification that his attorney was unavailable due to illness.
“We were informed on Wednesday that his legal representative is unwell and will not be available,” Sello told the commission.
A formal request has been submitted seeking to move Senona’s appearance to next week.
The postponement comes as the commission continues to unpack the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of 541 kilograms of cocaine seized in KwaZulu-Natal in 2021.
Evidence heard this week has raised fresh questions about whether the theft was the result of an inside operation rather than a simple security breach.
During his appearance, Senona described the massive drug seizure and the measures taken to secure the exhibits after officers discovered 27 canvas bags containing 540 one-kilogram bricks of cocaine wrapped in black and yellow plastic.
He testified that he authorised the transportation of the drugs to the Hawks’ Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation offices in Port Shepstone, where the cocaine was stored in a walk-in strongroom previously used for other narcotics.
According to Senona, access to the facility was tightly controlled through a key-booking system and restricted entry procedures.
Despite those safeguards, the entire cocaine haul later disappeared.
The theft was uncovered after an investigating officer reported the exhibits missing, triggering internal investigations and forensic examinations that continue to cast a shadow over one of the most serious security failures in recent policing history.
A new witness is expected on Friday.
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