It is a terrible thing to come across a human being who is without a soul; to witness a brain that is incapable of thought. Last week, thanks to the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry, we all came across such a frightening specimen — KwaZulu-Natal Hawks head Major-Gen Lesetja Senona.
Senona presented us with a picture of our country as it is, not as what we wish or hope, or fool ourselves it is. Here, on live television, was a shameless human being who did not care for his colleagues, for his office, for his people, or for his own sense of being. Here was entitlement. Here was arrogance. Here was a criminal hiding behind the office, the badge, the uniform, of a policeman.
Senona recounted how he consorted with suspected criminal mastermind Vusumuzi “Cat” Matlala, referring to him as his “little brother”, and how he encouraged him to “take on” the state when it acted against Matlala’s alleged criminal activities. Then it was revealed that Senona had given a police docket with sensitive information to Matlala.
The South African Police Service docket included the identity numbers, cellphone numbers and photos of six members of the KwaZulu-Natal Hawks — people who reported directly to Senona — as well as provincial members of Crime Intelligence.
How did this man sleep at night after giving his colleagues’ information to an organised crime suspect? Is this person worthy to even be referred to as a policeman? He is a criminal, finish and klaar.
If anyone ever doubted the efficacy of establishing the Madlanga inquiry, Senona and others (such as the bribe-taking EMPD chief Julius Mkhwanazi and the fantasy-spewing Brian Mogotsi) have made its existence clear. We knew the police were rotten. We knew the system was not working. But now no leader, can say that they did not know what South Africa is faced with.
We will not win against murder, rape, hijackings, fraud, theft, assaults and the numerous other categories of crime in this country because criminals have access to the top echelons of the police. Criminals are the police.
The chilling part is that Senona is not alone. Senona is not in the minority. There are many Senonas. He and others like him have been succeeding at the game of corruption and undermining the law for so long that what they are and what they do, is no longer an aberration. It is the norm.
What Senona did was so extraordinary that he should have been arrested, charged and locked up to await trial on the day of his testimony at the Madlanga commission. When it was revealed that Senona’s son and Matlala were planning to buy an apartment together, the circle was complete. This is wholesale corruption.
The law must live among our people — it must be seen to be their law. Now, the narrative that dominates is that people such as Senona are in charge. If a crime is committed against you, then you have a better chance of getting justice by “handling it yourself”.
If you are a criminal and you face jail, you call on people such as Senona. They will not only make your problems go away, but they will also give you the names, identity numbers, addresses and cell numbers of their fellow police officers so that you can kill them!
We have, right now, the heart-wrenching case of Hawks investigator Lt-Col Frans Mathipa going through the courts. Six members of the South African National Defence Force Special Forces are charged with murdering Mathipa in August 2023. Mathipa was investigating their involvement in the kidnapping of two terror-financing suspects in December 2022.
Mathipa was close to making arrests. He was lured to a meeting and he was shot and brutally killed near Hammanskraal while making his way to that meeting
Who gave his killers his details? His car registration, his number? It was someone like Senona. It infuriates me to think that honest men and women like Mathipa are dying out there while an arrogant, ignorant skunk like Senona walks free.
The chilling part is that Senona is not alone. Senona is not in the minority. There are many Senonas. He and others like him have been succeeding at the game of corruption and undermining the law for so long that what they are and what they do, is no longer an aberration. It is the norm. If a cop does not do what Senona does then he or she is considered “a barrie” (a fool) who is wasting an opportunity to get ahead.
South Africa was the last country on the continent to be freed from colonialism and apartheid. Before 1994 many vowed that we must avoid the corruption and collapse that attended liberation in many of the continent’s newly freed countries.
Well, from what we see and hear from the likes of Senona it has not only happened, but it has also done so in an accelerated, turbo-charged fashion.
We need consequences. For us to eradicate corruption we need political leadership that will pursue this goal single-mindedly. We can talk until the cows come home, but the truth is that without politicians’ commitment to consequence management, we will never defeat this problem. We need Senona and his like in orange overalls.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.