Leaking confidential info haunts KZN Hawks head

KWAZULU-NATAL Hawks head Major-General Lesetja Senona appears to have contradicted his earlier testimony when it emerged that he shared confidential police information, including ID numbers, with suspected crime kingpin Vusimuzi "Cat" Matlala. 

Senona had emphatically stated during Tuesday's testimony that he would never share police-held information with anyone, saying he was bound by the SAPS oath.

However, it emerged on Wednesday he had forwarded an affidavit with personal information on alleged kidnapper Esmael Nangy to Matlala, who he described as a brother and friend.

The affidavit in question contained hefty attachments bearing confidential information on some SAPS and Hawks officers in KZN under Senona’s supervision.

Senona told the commission that he sent the affidavit to Matlala “to sensitise him to be aware of this gentleman in his area (Centurion) that was arrested for kidnapping and extortion”.

But, co-commissioner Advocate Sesi Baloyi SC wanted to know how Senona obtained confidential documents and why he sent them to a private citizen.

“We have documents that are official state documents and you sent them to a private citizen who is your friend/brother who is accused of involvement in serious alleged crimes. What we are doing is that we are battling to get an understanding of how it is that you gained possession of these documents that you forwarded,” she said.

Baloyi expressed shock that Senona shared a document containing Nangy's ID, picture, and personal details, including his marriage certificate, with Matlala.

“This is highly personal information which, in a different context, you are precluded by the Protection of Personal Information Act from distributing further and sharing it with Mr Matlala,” she said.

She slammed Senona's actions, saying sharing such personal information with Matlala, accused of serious crimes, showed "at best, a lack of judgement if it wasn't deliberate". 

Senona stuck to his story, claiming he did not notice the additional attachments with other people's personal information when he shared the affidavit with Matlala. 

Advocate Sandile Khumalo SC, co-commissioner, highlighted that Senona also shared confidential information on SAPS detectives and crime intelligence officials, including their ID numbers, with Matlala. 

“If someone leaks information, is it not your responsibility to say whoever leaked the letter made a mistake and I shouldn't be doing that?” 

That was after Senona's claim that he obtained the documents from a News24 website or via WhatsApp was disputed during testimony, adding that he shared them because they were already in the public domain.

The commission pointed out that the News24 article merely stated the writer had seen the affidavit, with no attachment.

The commission highlighted that Senona shared confidential documents in March 2025 despite having top security clearance that explicitly barred him from doing so.

It also emerged that Matlala sent Senona confidential documents about the Senzo and Thembeka Mchunu foundation, including a top-secret document on President Cyril Ramaphosa and a corruption article on Rustenburg Local Municipality, after one of their meetings. Senona claimed he did not open or read them, unaware of their contents.

Cape Times