Illustrative image: Mark Lifman. (Photo: Gallo Images / Jaco Marais) | Medicare 24 Holdings and Public founder, Mike Van Wyk. (Image: X / eNCA) | SAPS logo. (Image: Wikicommons) | (By Daniella Lee Ming Yesca) Intimidation complaints and a high-level arrest recently rocked South Africa’s mining sector.
Now, murdered Cape Town crime accused Mark Lifman’s name has surfaced in this arena, connecting it to the country’s staggering law enforcement scandal.
Lifman was synonymous with suspicions of organised crime in South Africa, had extensive troubles with the taxman and was believed to have been pivotal in nightclub security dominance battles.
On Monday, 30 March 2026, Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala’s business partner Mike van Wyk confirmed to Daily Maverick that he knew Lifman.
Matlala is at the centre of the law enforcement implosion, and Van Wyk’s association with Lifman adds more layers to the scandal.
Van Wyk said he knew Lifman through the security industry in which he and Lifman were both involved.
‘He protected me’
“When I was threatened by a mine person, he protected me a hundred percent,” Van Wyk said.
“When he heard [about the threat], he jumped in and said, ‘Nobody’s going to touch you.’ He was a fair man.”
This, according to Van Wyk, happened about four years ago (which would mean about two years before Lifman was killed, and while Lifman was facing criminal charges).
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/ED_416217.jpg "Mark Lifman outside the Western Cape high court in Cape Town on 21 October 2022. Lifman was facing charges in connection with the 2017 murder of Brian Wainstein, who was known as the Steroid King. (Photo: Jaco Marais / Die Burger / Gallo Images)")
Van Wyk declined to give details to Daily Maverick on why he was allegedly threatened and who in the mining industry was behind this.
Mining-sector skirmishes have included claims of intimidation that involve two former associates of the Guptas, the brothers accused of being at the core of State Capture in South Africa when Jacob Zuma was president.
Lifman and police divisions
As for Lifman, he operated in Cape Town’s organised crime circles and was widely suspected of being a police informant.
Daily Maverick has established that he was viewed as being aligned with one of the two main policing factions that have been exposed through the law enforcement scandal.
KwaZulu-Natal police boss Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi sparked the scandal in July last year when he alleged a drug cartel had infiltrated South Africa’s criminal justice system, politics and private security.
One law enforcement faction supports Mkhwanazi and backs his accusations.
On the other side are police officers who view Mkhwanazi as deceitful, thereby casting doubt on his accusations.
Lifman, who was killed in a shooting in the Western Cape town of George in November 2024, was believed to have aligned himself with the side opposing Mkhwanazi.
Murder and ‘mining threat’ allegations
At the time, Lifman was on trial in a murder plot case.
Five accused in that trial, which has emphasised illicit steroid dealings, have been killed.
Two suspects, Johannes Jacobs and Gert Bezuidenhout, who have ties to private security, were arrested in connection with Lifman’s murder. The court case against them is ongoing.
Read more: Mark Lifman’s murder underscores the ‘grip’ of organised crime on police and private security
After Lifman’s killing, stories did the rounds that he had been involved, possibly through private security, in mining operations in Mpumalanga and that he had threatened people connected with that.
Some of the stories included that Lifman wanted to muscle his way into a mining business in Mpumalanga or wanted money related to it, and had threatened Van Wyk.
Van Wyk denied this to Daily Maverick on Monday, insisting that Lifman had instead protected him from the person within the Mpumalanga mining concern who had apparently threatened him.
Van Wyk and the ‘other’ Mkhwanazi
Van Wyk’s name has been mentioned before during two hearings investigating the accusations about drug cartel infiltration and Matlala.
He became the focus of national news, on eNCA and News24 (which has been meticulously reporting on Matlala and related matters), on Sunday and Monday, 29 and 30 March.
This is because videos of Van Wyk surfaced, including one of him seated alongside Julius Mkhwanazi, the now-suspended Ekurhuleni Metro Police deputy chief.
Julius Mkhwanazi previously admitted to knowing Matlala and accepting money from him.
Van Wyk, in the video showing him seated next to the now-suspended officer, introduced Julius Mkhwanazi to a client named George and said they should meet in person.
It was not clear who “George” was.
George happens to be the first name of George van der Merwe, who has been involved in disputes over the Optimum Coal Mine.
While Van Der Merwe may have nothing to do with Van Wyk, he has been embroiled in intimidation claims, which he has denied.
Those contested claims occupy the same area in which Lifman’s name has now cropped up – with Van Wyk’s assertion that Lifman had protected him after an alleged threat from a figure in mining.
Former Gupta associates
Van der Merwe was previously the general manager at the Optimum Coal Mine, which the Guptas had owned.
He was arrested in the Western Cape last month, but roughly a week later, the case was reportedly struck from the roll in Gauteng (presumably where complaints against him were made to police) without formal charges being put to him.
/file/attachments/orphans/SslW1Gu9_704901.jpg "George van der Merwe, previously the general manager at the Optimum Coal Mine, which the Guptas once owned. (Photo: X / @City_Press)")
Van Der Merwe was arrested after allegations that he had threatened people, including former associate Daniel McGowan of Liberty Coal, who, like him, had done business with the Guptas.
Last month, City Press reported that Sihle Gcinumzi Ntuli, a consultant with Liberty Investment Holdings, also made allegations against Van Der Merwe.
City Press reported that in an affidavit, Ntuli alleged that Van Der Merwe sent two men, who he claimed were hitmen, to demand R2.5-million from him in Sandton.
Van Der Merwe has reportedly denied threatening anyone.
‘Criminal complaint lodged’
Last month, Daily Maverick asked McGowan if he had lodged a complaint with the police against Van Der Merwe.
A response on his behalf from a communications agency said: “We can confirm that a criminal complaint has been formally lodged against Mr. van der Merwe. [...]
“At this stage, we do not intend to provide further detail, as the matter is now before the relevant authorities.”
In October last year, Daily Maverick asked McGowan if Lifman had ever threatened him or tried to force his way into Liberty Coal, when claims to this effect surfaced.
Read more: Behind the meltdown — Mike Miller v Zunaid Moti, Daniel McGowan and the JSE
McGowan replied: “There is no truth to the allegation that Mr Lifman tried to muscle his way into Liberty Coal, nor to the allegation that Mr Lifman threatened me in any way, shape or form in relation to this allegation or anything else.”
Daily Maverick contacted Van Der Merwe’s legal representative, Andre van Aswegen, about the allegations against him, initially in February and again on Monday, 30 March.
Among the questions Daily Maverick asked was whether Lifman had threatened Van Der Merwe (unofficial claims in security circles have been made in this regard).
On Monday, Van Aswegen said he would take instructions from Van Der Merwe, but he had not responded to Daily Maverick’s questions by the evening.
Van Der Merwe, meanwhile, had a full interview with the Middelburg Observer in early March.
‘I deny threatening anyone’
In the interview, he spoke about the legal issues he faced.
Reacting to accusations that he had threatened business rivals and their families, he said: “The matter is currently before the courts, so I cannot comment in detail.
“I deny threatening anyone.”
Van Der Merwe, addressing allegations that R2.5-million had been demanded from Ntuli, said: “That matter is also sub judice, and I cannot comment on the details. I trust the legal process will deal with the allegations.”
He acknowledged issues relating to McGowan’s Liberty Coal.
“From my understanding, Liberty decided to internalise certain services that were previously outsourced. I am pursuing my remedies through the appropriate legal processes.”
In the Middelburg Observer interview, Van Der Merwe also explained that “the mining sector can be challenging and sometimes volatile”.
“I have received threats in the past and have therefore employed security personnel,” he said.
Private (in)security and police arrests
Matters linked to private security are reflected in the reverberating law enforcement scandal sparked by the drug cartel infiltration accusations.
Crime Intelligence head Dumisani Khumalo told the Madlanga Commission in September that members of the cartel had registered businesses.
“In most cases, it’s private security companies that are the initial businesses for the members of the cartel that have just joined,” he said.
Private security is the industry Lifman was involved in.
Van Wyk, based on a company search, is the director of a private security business, and his associate, “Cat” Matlala, also headed one.
/file/attachments/orphans/ED_597796_631802.jpg "Vusimuzi ‘Cat’ Matlala appears in the high court in Johannesburg on 26 February 2026. He and his co-accused face charges of attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and money laundering. (Photo: Gallo Images / Luba Lesolle)")
Matlala now faces several criminal charges and has also been accused of being a member of the drug cartel that infiltrated the state, and of colluding with various police officers.
Last week, 12 senior officers were arrested in connection with a dodgy R360-million police tender awarded two years ago to Matlala’s company, Medicare 24 Tshwane District.
National Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola is also facing charges over the tender and is expected to appear in a Pretoria court on 21 April.
Van Wyk founded the company Medicare 24 Holdings and Public, which is separate from Medicare 24 Tshwane District, the one that landed the controversial policing tender.
He is referred to in the charge sheet against the 12 police officers, which alleges that in 2024, due diligence was conducted on Medicare 24 Tshwane District as part of the tender process, but this occurred at the premises of Medicare 24 Holdings and Public.
Van Wyk, in a statement dated Sunday, 29 March, said he had “proactively worked with the authorities in their inquiries at all times”. DM