Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) Deputy Director for Investigations Len John has made explosive allegations before the Madlanga Commission, claiming that a KwaZulu-Natal police cash-in-transit task team may have been infiltrated and used in killings linked to gang and drug turf wars.

John, who is based in KwaZulu-Natal, told the commission on Wednesday that IPID was investigating a number of shootings involving members of the South African Police Service (SAPS) Cash in Transit (CIT) Task Team.

He alleged that members of the task team, led by Lieutenant Colonel Deena Govender, were involved in shootings that bore striking similarities.

According to John, many of the operations took place between 11 pm and 3 am, with task team members allegedly wearing civilian clothing and face masks.

He said the team would receive information during the day but conduct operations at night, something he questioned given the dangers of operating in rural parts of KwaZulu-Natal after dark.

John made one of his most serious allegations when he told the commission that there was a prima facie case that alleged gang leader Clive Nicker had asked Govender to deploy his team to kill Bevan Loftus, whom John described as the leader of a rival gang.

John alleged that Nicker had placed a R2.5 million hit on Loftus and that members of the task team were motivated by the value of the alleged contract.

He further claimed that when police went to Loftus’s home, they told his father they were not there to arrest his son, but to kill him.

The allegations surrounding Loftus were particularly serious because, according to John, Loftus’s father approached the High Court for an interdict against Govender and the task team a day before his son’s death.

John also told the commission that a transcript of a telephone conversation between Loftus and Nicker indicated that a R2.5 million hit had been placed on Loftus.

Commissioner Madlanga questioned John’s inference that Nicker had identified Loftus as the person who had made a particular call simply because Loftus referred to the alleged hit.

John’s evidence also focused on the financial affairs of Govender and his wife, who is also a SAPS member.

He said bank records showed that cash deposits totalling R2,053,650 were made into accounts belonging to the couple between August 2022 and December 18, 2023.

He further testified that R179,800 was deposited into the account of conveyancers handling the purchase of a R2.3 million property on May 15, 2023.

Four days later, another R200,000 was allegedly paid to the conveyancing attorneys for the benefit of Govender and his wife.

John said the total cash payments made for the benefit of the couple amounted to R2,731,912.

He also raised concerns about the apparent absence of conventional evidence in shootings involving the task team.

John told the commission that in all 77 task team shooting cases being examined by IPID, the deceased could not be linked to the original case dockets that allegedly triggered the operations.

He said explosives, cash and other evidence linked to CIT crimes were not found in the shootings, although firearms were allegedly recovered or pointed out by police.

John said this raised questions about whether some of those killed had actually been involved in the crimes they were allegedly being targeted for.

The investigator also alleged that in one incident a second suspect was shot at by task team members while he was speaking to KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi.

According to John, Mkhwanazi advised the suspect to drive to the Pavilion Shopping Centre.

When the suspect arrived, his vehicle was inspected and photographed by members of the LCRC before being towed to a police station.

John alleged that task team members later arrived at the shopping centre and were summoned to Mkhwanazi’s office by Major General Mgobozi.

He claimed the members subsequently left without being processed as suspects in an attempted murder case involving the discharge of official firearms.

John also linked the alleged police criminality to the towing and drug trade in KwaZulu-Natal.

He said certain police officers at station level were allegedly linked to towing businesses and knew which tow trucks to call when incidents occurred.

He alleged that some tow trucks were being used to transport and distribute drugs in parts of the eThekwini municipality.

John said the relationship between police and tow truck operators had created an environment in which some operators enjoyed what he described as “free rein” when it came to crime.

The allegations come against the backdrop of the long-running problem of organised and violent crime in KwaZulu-Natal, including cash in transit robberies.

SAPS has previously said CIT task teams were established countrywide to prevent and investigate cash in transit heists.

Recent incidents demonstrate the scale of the threat. In February, a cash in transit vehicle was robbed and blown up on the N2 near Chesterville, Durban, while police later arrested a suspected CIT robber in Inanda and recovered explosives with detonators.

In June 2024, two suspected CIT robbers were fatally shot during a confrontation with police in Phoenix after a task team had been searching for suspects linked to a robbery in Kranskop.

But John’s testimony has now placed the role of police task teams themselves under intense scrutiny.

He told the commission that IPID continues to investigate the shootings and that, while extrajudicial killings do not fall directly within the commission’s terms of reference, the evidence points to the alleged infiltration of the CIT task team.

The commission adjourned after John’s testimony, leaving the allegations against the task team, Govender and other police officials to be tested through further evidence and responses before the inquiry.