By Johnathan Paoli
KwaZulu-Natal Hawks Lieutenant-Colonel Deena Govender and his task team were allegedly used to eliminate a rival in Durban’s violent tow-truck and drug wars, with Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) deputy director Len John telling the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry there was a prima facie case that Govender had been commissioned to kill tow-truck operator and alleged gangster Bevan Loftus.
Completing his testimony before the commission on Wednesday, John said the evidence pointed to an alleged R2.5-million hit on Loftus by rival tow-truck businessman Clive Naicker, with Govender’s task team allegedly carrying out the killing.
“The killing of Bevan Loftus, Sihle Zondi, Ryan Santos, Chase Fynn, and Michigan Hippolyte has a range of disturbing features that are consistent with a deliberate extra-judicial killing paid for by an organised crime competitor,” John said.
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The allegation centres on the deaths of Loftus and four other men in a Morningside flat on 1 April 2023.
Police said the men opened fire when the task team entered the flat and that officers returned fire, killing all five.
John disputes that account.
He said the five men were in a secured flat where visitors had to be admitted through security downstairs, making the police version of a spontaneous gunfight questionable.
John said counter-intelligence had warned IPID investigators before the shooting that Govender and his team intended to “take out” Loftus.
Investigators considered a trap operation but were unable to proceed after discussions with prosecutors.
Instead, they warned Loftus’s father, Gregory, who told them the family had already received the same information.
“In one visit to the house, they indicated to the father that we’re not here to arrest Bevan. We’re here to kill him. They even told the father, you must prepare, go and get his funeral cover and insurance, everything in order. Because they’re going to kill him,” he said.
The allegations came against the backdrop of a violent turf war involving Durban’s towing and drug industries.
John said tow trucks were allegedly used to transport and supply drugs and that turf battles between operators had resulted in murders and attempted murders.
The police version was that Loftus was wanted in several cases, including attempted murder, theft of a motor vehicle, and murder.
However, John said IPID found little evidence in the relevant dockets conclusively linking Loftus to those offences.
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John nevertheless said there was “considerable evidence” suggesting Govender had been commissioned by Naicker to kill Loftus and remove him as competition in the tow-truck and drug industries.
Govender earned less than R26,000 a month from SAPS, John said.
Yet between August 2022 and December 2023, more than R2 million in cash was deposited into accounts held by Govender and his wife, who is also a police officer.
A further R179,800 was paid to conveyancers handling their property purchase, followed by another R200,000.
Another R298,462 was transferred into Govender’s home loan account, bringing the total to R2,731,912.
John also highlighted an August 2022 vehicle-tracking record showing Govender’s SAPS BMW stopping for seven-and-a-half minutes about 31 metres from Naicker’s address.
On 31 March 2023, the day before the shooting, Gregory Loftus approached the High Court seeking an interdict against Govender and SAPS to prevent his son from being killed.
In January 2023, Loftus confronted Naicker by telephone about the alleged bounty, accusing him of paying Govender and other men to kill him.
Naicker challenged the allegation, asking whether Loftus was making allegations or stating facts.
John argued that Naicker’s response indicated he was aware of the alleged R2.5-million bounty, although commission chairperson Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga questioned whether that inference necessarily followed from the conversation.
The next day, 1 April, Govender’s task team located Loftus and four other men in the Morningside flat.
Police said the men opened fire, but none of the task-team members was shot or otherwise injured.
John said the circumstances were inconsistent with a conventional gunfight.
IPID investigators were notified only at 2.35pm, although the shooting occurred between 12.30pm and 1pm.
By the time investigators arrived, Govender was outside the scene and the task-team members had left.
John said this formed part of a wider pattern in which task-team members allegedly left scenes before IPID could conduct proper investigations.
He told the commission that the evidence surrounding Loftus’s death had several features consistent with a deliberate, paid extra-judicial killing: the warning of the alleged R2.5-million hit, the interdict application filed by his father the day before the killing, Govender’s vehicle stopping near Naicker’s home, and more than R2.5-million in subsequent payments involving Govender and his wife.
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John stressed that his evidence did not establish Govender’s or Naicker’s guilt in the alleged murder.
However, he told the commission the evidence was sufficient to establish a prima facie case that the police task team had been corrupted and used to eliminate a rival in a criminal turf war.
