By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
KwaZulu-Natal Hawks head Major General Lesetja Senona was grilled over a meeting he allegedly arranged and attended with controversial businessman Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala and KZN police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi on 15 April 2025.
The meeting was arranged to discuss why SAPS was not issuing purchase orders linked to Matlala’s company, Medicare 24 Tshwane District, which had irregularly been awarded a R360-million contract by SAPS to provide health screening services.
At the time, the KZN-based Political Killings Task Team (PKTT) was investigating Matlala and his alleged associates in a range of cases.
Senona denied arranging the April 2025 meeting, saying it had been organised by former police minister Bheki Cele, who Senona said didn’t attend the meeting. Senona maintained that he merely accompanied Matlala, whom he claimed was uncomfortable meeting Mkhwanazi alone.
According to Senona, Mkhwanazi agreed to assist Matlala with purchase orders and offered to halt an investigation against him related to the attempted murder of his ex-girlfriend, Tebogo Thobejane, in exchange for information on suspended deputy national commissioner of crime detection Lieutenant General Shadrack Sibiya.
Senona told the commission that he received what he perceived to be threatening text messages from Mkhwanazi.
He read out portions of the text exchanges, saying the messages were sent shortly before he was due to testify at the commission, which is probing allegations of corruption and political interference in the criminal justice system.
Questioned further by evidence leaders, Senona conceded that Mkhwanazi did not explicitly instruct him not to speak about the meeting but maintained that he, nonetheless, felt intimidated by the tone and content of the messages.
Matlala has told parliament’s ad hoc committee, which is also investigating police corruption, that Senona facilitated a meeting with Mkhwanazi related to a contract. Senona said he did not arrange the meeting but only accompanied Mkhwanazi to meet Matlala.
In the texts, Mkhwanazi seemed concerned that Matlala had lied during testimony before the ad hoc committee.
During the meeting, Matlala informed Mkhwanazi about alleged interactions with police officials and claims that money was being collected using state vehicles. Senona’s legal representative advised him not to disclose the identities of the individuals mentioned in the messages, warning that doing so could place him in danger.
However, the texts include references to allegations that a house was being used by the currently Sibiya, to collect money with state vehicles and that R2 million was paid towards the purchase of Sibiya’s farm.
“I’m still going to that committee and hope [Matlala] doesn’t mind me exposing him to both Sibiya and Mr Y. I hope you won’t blame me for risking his life because I have to tell the truth about our meeting,” Mkhwanazi wrote to Senona.
In another message, Mkhwanazi warned Senona that he planned to rely on extensive evidence to corroborate his account.
“Besides voice recording, cellular phone and triangulation and my vehicle tracker including access footage will confirm the day and time of our meeting … For his own sake I hope those timelines are in line with what he said before the committee in relation to his arrest,” wrote Mkhwanazi.
“These messages, commissioners, they came as some sort of intimidation to me. What I did was I just screenshot them and sent them to my attorneys,” said Senona.
He added that it was unbecoming for a provincial police commissioner to send such messages to him and confirmed that his attorneys had written to Mkhwanazi, requesting access to the alleged recordings referred to in the texts. Senona said those recordings have not yet been provided.
Senona said he was “rattled” by the messages. He also said he was subsequently redeployed within his office and suspects that was linked to Mkhwanazi.
Earlier on Tuesday Senona denied allegations that he leaked confidential police information to Matlala or improperly used his position as provincial head of the Hawks.
Crime intelligence boss Dumisani Khumalo, along with Witness X and Witness C, have previously implicated Senona in allegedly sharing sensitive information and aiding Matlala, who has been linked to claims about a so-called “Big 5 cartel” operating in Gauteng.
Speaking about the nature of his relationship with Matlala, Senona told the commission that they met around 2019 in Pretoria during his traditional wedding. He said Matlala was introduced to him by a relative of his wife.
He told the commission that although his wife and Matlala shared the same surname, they were not related. He added that their relationship developed over the years, involving shared WhatsApp messages, and that when they met, it was always of a social nature.
Senona further stated that he had only assisted by introducing Matlala to a third party, explaining that he could not provide details about contracts involving “Cat VIP” or any third party.
“My assistance was limited to introductions. I advised him to conduct risk assessments from time to time and to ensure proper engagements,” he said.
However, the friendship appeared to have crossed a line when Senona forwarded a leaked letter concerning the disbandment of the PKTT to Matlala on 1 January 2025. Senona explained that the letter had already been circulating on social media and was in the public domain, and that he had simply shared it with a friend.