‘My son was murdered in cold blood by the police,’ father tells inquiry

On the day before Bevan Loftus was gunned down, his father, Gregory Loftus, deposed an affidavit to try to prevent a police captain and other officers from murdering his son. Testifying at the Madlanga Commission on Thursday, 13 August, Loftus Snr matter-of-factly read from his prepared statement:

“I am the father of the late Bevan Loftus, who I strongly believe was murdered in cold blood on 1 April 2023. Bevan was murdered by the police under the guise of a legitimate police operation and at the instance of Clive Naicker, a competitor of Bevan in the tow truck industry and an alleged drug dealer.”

Loftus Snr, himself a former police officer, was the commission’s first civilian witness testifying about a killed relative.

On Thursday, a second retired officer also questioned the official police account of the shooting, though he challenged Loftus Snr’s claim that Bevan Loftus was innocent of criminality. The hearing further exposed a strained relationship between father and son, noting that Bevan Loftus had once lodged a criminal complaint against his father.

‘Murdered in cold blood’

Similar sentiments, that police officers murdered Bevan Loftus, were heard the day before when Len John, the deputy director for investigations with the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) in KwaZulu-Natal, testified before the commission.

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On Wednesday, John identified Naicker and Bevan Loftus as alleged leaders of rival drug and tow-trucking gangs. He testified that Lieutenant Colonel Deena Govender, acting “at the insistence” of Naicker, deployed members of his cash-in-transit task team to murder Loftus. He added that some corrupt officers formed alliances with tow-truck operators engaged in drug trafficking.

The other version

Bevan Loftus’s 2023 death made national headlines after he and four others were killed in a single shooting. At the time, police claimed a deadly shootout erupted during a drug raid when suspects opened fire and officers retaliated.

Greg Ardé wrote in Daily Maverick: “The five were killed in a swish apartment in the up-market Durban suburb of Morningside, in what Gregory Loftus, Bevan’s father, has called an ‘execution’. Police have denied this.”

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The police minister at the time, Bheki Cele, was quoted as saying, in an interview aired on eNCA, that the group of men had opened fire and one police officer was nearly killed.

Affidavit then a killing

On Thursday, Loftus Snr testified that his son had been hiding out with friends when he was killed because he had been warned that Govender, then holding the rank of captain, planned to kill him.

“On 31 March 2023, the day before my son was murdered, I deposed to an affidavit in support of an interdict application which was issued that day and which sought, inter alia, to interdict Captain Deena Govender and the SAPS from murdering my son,” said Loftus Snr.

“A day after the application was issued, Captain Deena Govender and a group of SAPS officers under his command murdered my son anyway.”

How this testimony fits in

The Madlanga Commission is investigating accusations that a criminal cartel has infiltrated the state. These accusations were first made in 2025 by KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi. After this, two main factions in law enforcement emerged – those for and those against him.

Mkhwanazi’s allegations include that at the end of 2024, the police minister at the time, Senzo Mchunu, ordered the disbandment of the Political Killings Task Team in KwaZulu-Natal as he had been influenced by individuals wanting to derail certain investigations. Mchunu denied this. Accusations previously surfaced that the Political Killings Task Team was heavy-handed.

The Madlanga Commission’s focus is now on the actions of other KwaZulu-Natal policing task teams, including one focused on cash-in-transit crimes. Allegations have surfaced that the head of this team, Lieutenant Colonel Deena Govender, was among police officers involved in extrajudicial killings.

‘Highly improbable’

Ashley Houston, who retired from the police in March after 38 years of service, testified after Gregory on Thursday.

He was at the mass shooting scene, and saw the statements from the police officers involved in the incident.

Houston said that the statements, along with factors including the configuration of the flat in which the killings happened, the position of the bodies and the weapons used, made him conclude that it was “highly improbable” the shooting happened the way the officers alleged.

“My opinion is that what I read and what I see … doesn’t speak to each other,” said Houston.

He added that if there had been a shootout, armed response companies would have arrived on the scene, but instead it appeared there had been a “short burst” of gunfire.

‘Not a criminal’ and ‘a notorious figure’

Earlier during Thursday’s proceedings, Loftus Snr explained that his family lived in the Bluff, “which is a gang-infested area where there has been a lot of violence”.

He said his late son had associated with people linked to drugs and criminality, and the tow truck industry his son was involved in experienced violence, which started in Wentworth in 2020.

“Bevan, his friends and his drivers started being shot at by the members of a drug gang called the Cartel,” he said.

Five of Bevan Loftus’s drivers were shot since 2020.

On Thursday, Loftus Snr said there were allegations that his son had been involved in drugs and killings, which he “vehemently” denied.

“As far as I know, he lived from income received from his towing and taxi business. He did not live a flamboyant life and lived modestly. I have been in the [police] service; I would have had some idea if Bevan was involved in drugs or in the killing of other people.

“The narrative that Bevan and his friends were involved in drugs was a cover-up by the police to justify hunting him and ultimately killing him.”

Houston, however, told a different story. “The late Bevan Loftus was a notorious figure,” he said, adding that Loftus had been a member of the local Hollywood gang.

Houston recalled arresting Loftus for intimidation, which included a threat to shoot a police officer. He said Loftus once lodged a complaint of the theft of a motor vehicle against his father that was subsequently withdrawn. DM

What next?

More witnesses are expected to testify before the Madlanga Commission, which aims to wrap up its hearings by early October. It will then complete a report on the hearings, which will be presented to President Cyril Ramaphosa. DM