‘He misled the commission’ – Senona dismisses coffee machine and bullying allegations

Suspended KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Hawks head Lesetja Senona has dismissed the allegations made against him by suspended Provincial Commander for Serious Organised Crime Investigation (SOCI) of the Hawks, Brigadier Campbell Nyuswa, and Warrant Officer Karl Sander.

On Friday, Senona returned to the Madlanga commission to respond to the allegations against him regarding the theft of 541kg of suspected cocaine worth R200 million from a Hawks storage facility in Port Shepstone in November 2021.

On Wednesday, Nyuswa left the commissioners questioning whether he was trying to say the safe containing the suspected cocaine was opened with the key, which only Senona possessed, and that the thieves used the grinder as a ruse.

When Sander testified earlier this month, he said he was treated as a suspect in the theft of the drugs despite his absence when the incident occurred.

He further told the commission that he was removed from his role in the Hawks’ South African Narcotics Enforcement Bureau (SANEB) and reassigned to provincial support services in February 2024. Sander said Senona was the one who approved the transfer pending the finalisation of the investigations. He was transferred on allegations of supplying drugs to Florida nightclub syndicates.

Sander also testified about the polygraph test he was subjected to after his coffee machine went missing. Following his testimony, South Africans raised at least R300 000 to replace his coffee machine.

What about Nyuswa?

On Friday, Senona hit back at his two colleagues, questioning what he labelled omissions and questionable actions.

“They failed to disclose the visit by Brigadier Nyuswa to the Port Shepstone offices on Tuesday, 2 November 2021, shortly before the theft occurred. I can confirm, commissioners, that Brigadier Nyuswa also testified here, and he confirmed that he did visit the office on 2 November 2021. But from where I’m sitting, I’ve never visited that office ever since those drugs were stored at Port Shepstone,” said Senona.

He did not elaborate further on the statement, leaving it to the commissioners to draw their own conclusions.

Senona on the coffee machine

The suspended Hawks official further questioned why Sander failed to inform the commission that four thefts occurred before the polygraph tests were administered.

In fact, he said he was not the one who initiated it, but only signed off on it.

“There was a theft of a camera of the state and a state laptop that possessed sensitive information in that office. There was also a theft of a laminating machine. His coffee machine was the last one,” explained Senona.

“The person who initiated and applied for these members [to take a polygraph test] was Brigadier Nyuswa. I was out of the office by then. The only thing I did was to sign the call-up instruction and say all these members must go for a polygraph test because there was no break-in, but things are disappearing.

“I believe that was done bona fide, not to punish any person, commissioners. Those are the issues that I wanted to address, although they are not on the subpoena. Just to give the commissioners a clear picture as to what happened.

“He comes here and cries and says I subjected him to what you call a polygraph test for the theft of his coffee machine. That is not correct. Maybe for lack of a better word, it is insane of me to have done that, commissioners. If you are a victim, then I will put you on the polygraph test. That is wrong. He misled the commission.”

‘I followed orders’

Senona further told the commission that the decision to temporarily move Sander from his position came from then-Hawks national head Lieutenant General Godfrey Lebeya.

“All I’m saying is I was complying with the directive from the national office. I cannot fail to comply with the directive from head office because that might result in serious misconduct. Disregarding the instructions of your senior. As far as my recollection, I was given that instruction and an email was sent to me,” said Senona.

However, Commissioner Sesi Baloyi asked him why he made the decision to return Sander to his position despite ongoing investigations.

Senona explained: “There are issues that necessitate certain actions. The instruction was that he be placed temporarily elsewhere until the finalisation of the investigation. But as the investigations were proceeding, we could see that from where I’ve seen the last reports, I think, the challenges that we had, whatever was found, and then I took it upon myself.

“I didn’t go back and request that, ‘Can I place him back?’ I took it upon myself to place him back. I didn’t request. Maybe I contravened the senior’s instruction in doing so, but I took it upon myself as the investigation progressed, because the instruction was pending the outcome of the investigation.”

Senona said if he had made a mistake in returning Sander to his position, he would take responsibility for his actions.