Serious allegations of a hit squad operating within the KwaZulu-Natal police has been laid bare in testimony before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry this week with a former cop claiming his son was targeted in a conspiracy involving a rival tow truck operator and law enforcement officials.
The commission is hearing testimony related to the allegation that KZN SAPS members are involved in extrajudicial killings.
Former SAPS officer Gregory Loftus, the father of the late Bevan Loftus, told the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry on Thursday that his son was killed by the police officers allegedly contracted by Bevan’s competitor in the tow trucking industry to kill him for R2.5 million.
Bevan Loftus, was shot dead along with his friends, by a police task team in April 2023 at a Morningside, Durban flat.
Loftus has disputed the police's version that Bevan and his friends exchanged fire with the police task team led by Lieutenant-Colonel Deena Govender prior to being killed.
“From the pictures I have seen and taken and the markings on the walls and the floor in the flat, I do not believe there was a shootout,” Loftus said.
He recounted that his family had been harassed and intimidated by a police “hit squad” since 2022, culminating in his son's murder two years later.
The commission heard on Wednesday that task teams were allegedly responsible for killing suspects linked to cash-in-transit robberies, taxi violence, and drug syndicates.
“Bevan was murdered by the police under the guise of legitimate police operation and at the instance of a competitor of Bevan in the tow truck industry and an alleged drug dealer,” Loftus told the inquiry.
He said gang violence involving the tow-trucking industry started in Wentworth during 2020 when Bevan and his friends and drivers started being shot at by the members of a drug gang called the Cartel.
“There are allegations that Bevan was involved in drugs or killing people. I deny that,” he said, adding that Bevan relied on income received from his towing and taxi business.
He testified that during 2022 both he and Bevan received information that there was a hit out on Bevan’s life for R2.5 million.
“I also received information from a policeman. I know that the hit on my son Bevan was genuine. The word was that I should be careful because if they cannot kill Bevan they would kill my son Nicholas or myself. Nicholas was a Bolt operator and had to cease operating because of the threat on his life and subsequently lost his income and the vehicle,” he said.
He said on January 23, 2023 Bevan called the competitor, who was allegedly behind the plot, and confronted him regarding the proposed R2.5 million contract to kill him.
Three months later, Bevan was killed along with his friends Ryan Santos, Chase Fynn, Michigan Hippolyte and Sihle Zondi. Police claimed officers came under fire after entering the premises and shot back.
On Wednesday, Len John, Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) KZN deputy director for investigations, testified that the task team led by Govender fatally shot five suspects inside a flat. John alleged that there was suspicious transactions to bank accounts belonging to Govender and his wife after the murders.
The commission heard that more than R2 million in cash was deposited into Govender’s and his wife’s bank accounts between 29 August and 18 December 2023. Further cash payments were made toward the couple’s R2.35 million property purchase in Sibaya.
In total, the identified cash payments came to R2,433,450 and with the R298,462 home loan transfer on 26 April 2023 included, the amount rose to R2,731,912.
John testified that at the time, Govender’s monthly take-home remuneration from SAPS was less than R26,000
Loftus rejected statements attributed to former Police Minister Bheki Cele following Bevan’s death.
According to reports, Cele said: “These guys have been profiled… they have been causing havoc,” and described the group as “the nucleus of this nonsense of drug turf wars.”
Cele also reportedly claimed Bevan faced a long list of withdrawn cases.
Retired SAPS officer Captain Ashley Houston, who was at the scene after Bevan's shooting, told the commission he once arrested Bevan in Wentworth for intimidation, including threatening to shoot a police officer.
Houston said he later dealt with Bevan when he opened a case against his father for the theft of a Toyota Quantum minibus, but he subsequently withdrew the charge.
He described Bevan as a notorious individual who hung out with members of the Hollywood gang.
Houston’s version was at odds with Gregory Loftus’s testimony that his son was no longer associating with people linked to gangs.
rapula.moatshe@nationalmg.co.za