More than R300,000 in cash, dozens of rapid-fire ATM deposits, allegations of a multimillion-rand murder plot and claims of police corruption collided as KwaZulu-Natal Hawks Colonel Deena Govender failed to clarify any.
Govender told the Madlanga Commission on Monday that the more than R300,000 deposited through 37 separate R10,000 transactions within roughly an hour was cash given to him by his mother-in-law to help finance a property purchase.
He said she handed him the money that afternoon and that he deposited it through an ATM after hours.
“Commissioner, when you go to an ATM, it [only] takes R10,000 at a time, and you will have to deposit one after the other,” Govender said.
The explanation drew a blunt response from commission chair Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga.
“What you are saying is nonsensical,” Madlanga said.
Co-Commissioner Advocate Sandile Khumalo also challenged the account, questioning why anyone would carry such a large amount of cash and repeatedly feed it into an ATM rather than use a safer method.
“It smells of money laundering,” Khumalo suggested.
Govender also faced explosive allegations over the killing of tow-truck operator Bevan Loftus during a 2023 police operation at a Morningside flat.
He denied receiving money from rival tow-truck operator Clive Naicker to arrange Loftus’s murder, describing the allegation as fabricated.
“They are fabricating all this to get to me… this is a lie… my family is watching, how am I going to face the public,” Govender said.
He rejected claims by Loftus’s father, former police officer Gregory Loftus, that the killing was an assassination disguised as a legitimate police operation.
“The father makes up a story, or the son makes up a story that I received money to kill his son, which is not true at all. I don’t work on my own. I work on the strict protocol,” he said.
The commission has heard Gregory Loftus allege that a R2.5 million hit had been offered for his son’s murder.
Separately, investigators have raised questions about a financial trail of about R2.7 million involving Govender and his wife. The two amounts are not the same.
Govender said his dealings with Gregory Loftus stemmed from efforts to locate Bevan in connection with gang-related investigations and alleged shootings.
He insisted police wanted to question or arrest Bevan, but accused his father of repeatedly helping him evade them.
His testimony was postponed to a date to be announced.
kamogelo.moichela@iol.co.za
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