By Des Erasmus
Police in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) said on Monday night they would investigate Durban businessman Calvin Mathibeli after he posted “malicious and baseless” allegations on social media and challenged them to probe his empire.
“The South African Police Service in KwaZulu-Natal has noted with disdain the malicious, baseless, unfounded and somewhat threatening social media post by one Calvin Mojalefa Mandlakapheli Mathibeli, a businessman in KwaZulu-Natal,” provincial spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda said in a statement.
“Police in KwaZulu-Natal did not know about Mr Mathibeli and his business dealings [before the social media post] and would like to thank him for the voluntary invitation to [investigate his] business operations,” he said.
Mathibeli, the founder of Calvin and Family Group, describes himself on the company’s website as a “self-made man” and “former garden boy” who started out repairing cellphones to cover his studies, before making it big in the business world.
The corporation’s head office is based in the upmarket suburb of Glenashley, north of Durban, but it also has branches in Gauteng, Free State, Western Cape, Limpopo, as well as Namibia and Lesotho.
Besides private security services, Calvin and Family Group offers construction consultancy and logistics management.
Mathibeli’s social media post followed a police operation at his company’s Durban premises.
But according to Netshiunda, the operation was handled from national head office, and province had “nothing to do with it”.
In his post, Mathibeli accused police in KwaZulu-Natal of being captured by his business competitors, and of using their positions of authority to pursue “get-rich-quick schemes”.
Mathibeli previously alleged that KZN police chief Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi has personally been “doing the bidding” of a well-known family that owns a taxi and security empire in the province, and that the Political Killings Task Team (PKTT) has previously harassed him because of that. Mathibeli has refused to name the family.
In his (unedited) post on Monday, he wrote:
“To Whom it May concern
I am fully aware of the plans being orchestrated against me of which are not new. I’m aware about the plans you have to kill Me in name of “ngidubule kuqala ngibhekise emaphoyiseni” Your modus you always use to satisfy your handlers. Your attempts to intimidate me and damage my name ahead of my appearance before the Madlanga Commission,” he said on Facebook.
“SAPS in KZN has become a network that some use for personal gain rather than public service. SAPS in KZN has become nothing but your Forex, Your get rich quick Scheme. If you think that threats and intimidation will silence me, you are mistaken. I will not be bullied in the name of policing. I will not be silenced by coercion. I stand for the truth and i am ready to defend it. What is built on injustice will fall. What is rooted in truth and aligned with God’s purpose will stand,” Mathibeli posted.
“The difference between Me and You is simple: I work hard for everything I have and earn my success with integrity. I do not survive through means of protection fee from private companies including security companies and taxi owners. I Own a company which employs more than 5400 across South Africa, You are just Police official who is an ice-boy for taxi and Security company owners amongst many others. I do not survive through means protection fee from Criminals, Government officials and Politicians you threaten to arrest if they don’t dance for your music because you have their Ace Cards.”
Netshiunda said the post had drawn police attention to Mathibeli and his business interests.
“Now that Mr Mathibeli has introduced himself to the police in KwaZulu-Natal, his utterances were simply an invitation to police in KwaZulu-Natal to start looking into his business dealings, and police have learnt that he is a beneficiary of a tender with the Department of Health in Gauteng,” Netshiunda said.
“Police in KwaZulu-Natal will give him the attention he is seeking and get the ball of investigations rolling.”
He said police would also pursue legal recourse against Mathibeli for his “image-tinting utterances”.
Last year, during testimony at the Madlanga Commission, Mathibeli was accused by former Ekurhuleni Metro Police deputy chief Revo Spies of having had one of his security vehicles fitted with blue lights. Spies said he was told of this by his colleagues at the metro, after he retired.
Mathibeli subsequently threatened to sue Spies for R100 million for reputational damage.
He has also made known that he has written to the commission asking to testify about the KZN police and Mkhwanazi.
Mathibeli has previously been linked to several criminal and civil disputes.
In 2025, Sunday World reported that five security guards from his company were arrested in a Gauteng kidnapping-and-murder case.
Mathibeli claimed the matter was engineered by rivals.
In 2018, Mathibeli alleged he gave former eThekwini mayor and then eThekwini ANC region leader Zandile Gumede a “donation” for her eponymous foundation, and for the ANC, after he secured a contract with the city.
Gumede – who is currently being tried on charges of fraud, corruption and money laundering charges in a separate matter — denied the claims.
“Police in KwaZulu-Natal are working tirelessly to regain the trust that the community must have on the police, and no malicious attack on police will be left unchallenged,” Netshiunda said.
“Nobody is above the law, and any wrongdoings by police must be reported to the relevant authorities, not [via] a miscalculated smear campaign of disseminating fabricated untruths.”
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