By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Hawks officer Deenadayalan “Deena” Govender gave his evidence publicly before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry after his bid to have parts of his testimony heard behind closed doors was rejected.
The commission’s chairperson Mbuyiseli Madlanga delivered the ruling on Sunday, 30 August 2026, ahead of Govender’s return to the hot seat on Monday.
During Monday’s proceedings, Govender came across confident. But when the focus turned to the origin of his finances, and it was put to him that certain cash movements resembled money laundering, his confidence appeared to deflate.
An aspect that did not sit well with evidence leaders and commissioners was that Govender expected them to believe that between August 2022 and December 2023, he happened to receive more than R3-million in cash.
His finances were scrutinised during the proceedings, especially his receipt of sizeable cash payments.
Govender was asked to detail the sources of funds used to purchase a R2.35-million property in Sibaya, KwaZulu-Natal, in 2023.
He explained that it was financed by a R1.4-million FNB bank loan and the balance, R950,000, was paid from different sources, including R165,000 transferred from his son’s savings account.
Govender had also received nearly R400,000 cash from a Josh Chelin, who died in December last year.
It also emerged that Govender’s mother-in-law had also given him around R300,000 cash on a single day. He deposited the cash into an account via an ATM instead of taking it into a bank branch.
He also confirmed that he knew that Timothy Marimuthu had previously been convicted of dealing in Mandrax.
According to a previous commission of inquiry into Correctional Services – the Jali Commission – Marimuthu was sentenced to an effective three years in jail in 1992 “for the crime of dealing in 3,390 Mandrax tablets”.
Govender was asked about his proximity to Marimuthu, whom he described as a businessman with “strong ties” to the police service and to political figures.
Marimuthu’s wife was “a full colonel” in Crime Intelligence, where two more of Marimuthu’s relatives were also employed. (It was not immediately clear if this was still the case.)
Govender said his children were “very close” to Marimuthu’s grandchildren.
“From time to time I was instructed to take senior officers to Marimuthu’s house,” Govender testified.
About a week ago, when initially testifying before the commission, Govender had said he believed he was being used to discredit KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) police boss Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi and had been pressured to say that he acted on Mkhwanazi’s orders to carry out police shootings.
Govender on Monday elaborated on the alleged pressure he felt to tarnish Mkhwanazi, saying that sidelined police minister Senzo Mchunu instructed him to implicate Mkhwanazi in relation to 172 shootings.
In his previous testimony, Govender said an acquaintance of Mchunu’s, Mavuso Ntandane, invited him to a meeting on 21 August 2026.
Govender said that during that meeting, he had a phone conversation with Mchunu.
Brief footage showing Govender at the meeting with Ntandane was screened at the Commission on Monday.
Govender has also strongly denied allegations that he was paid to orchestrate the murder of tow-truck operator, Bevan Loftus.
The allegations were previously made by IPID Senior Investigator, Len John and Loftus’s father, Gregory.
Govender told the commission that police were actively pursuing Bevan at the time and alleged that Gregory would secretly help his son evade arrest whenever officers arrived at their home.
Meanwhile the commission spokesperson Jeremy Michaels said Major-General Feroz Khan has been subpoenaed to appear tomorrow, adding that the subpoena remains in force.
Michael also confirmed that the criminal charges were laid against the controversial North West businessman Suliman Carrim on 21 Aug 2026.