Marimuthu, money laundering and Mchunu — Hawks officer grilled over cop controversies, cash

A KwaZulu-Natal police officer has told the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry how he took colleagues to visit politically connected convict-businessman Timothy “Timmy” Marimuthu, whose name keeps surfacing in state controversies.

On Monday, 31 August 2026, Deenadayalan (Deena) Govender, who heads a Hawks tracing team in KwaZulu-Natal, said he knew Marimuthu was involved in industries including the taxi sector, and that the two had visited each other’s homes.

But he said he had not really socialised “with Timmy”.

Monday was not the first time that Govender testified at the Madlanga Commission.

Other witnesses previously painted him as the head of a rogue police team involved in criminality, while Govender has portrayed himself as a pawn in a dirty game.

Govender alleges a fellow policeman, whom he identified as a Sergeant Thomas, the nephew of the State Security Agency’s Foreign Branch head Robert McBride, is actually targeting him.

During Monday’s proceedings, Govender initially came across as sure of himself.

But when the focus turned to the origin of some 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.

Govender insisted that the payments were loans.

Mandrax, Mdluli and Marimuthu

On Monday he confirmed that he knew that 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”.

The Jali Commission found: “When the commission investigated the matter it soon became clear that all was not what it seemed and that sinister and extraordinary manoeuvrings had taken place behind the scenes by some of those implicated to ensure that Mr Marimuthu escaped incarceration.”

Former police minister Bheki Cele, meanwhile, previously told Parliament that Marimuthu appeared “quite close with intelligence people” and once organised a meeting between Cele and former Crime Intelligence head Richard Mdluli.

Mdluli is now a convict facing charges in a case focused on Crime Intelligence slush fund looting, which he has denied.

In 2024, a joint investigation by AmaBhungane and TimesLive described Marimuthu as an “outed bogus Crime Intelligence agent” who was “a person of interest in a Hawks trafficking-for-sex investigation”.

Marimuthu was arrested in a related case.

‘I took cops to his house’

On Monday, 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.)

Marimuthu and the taxman

In 2013, Oupa Magashula, commissioner of the South African Revenue Service (SARS), resigned after an investigation was launched into allegations against him that surfaced via the media.

A press statement by the finance minister at the time, the late Pravin Gordhan, had said:

“The media reports were based on a telephone conversation during which Mr Magashula was recorded offering a Chartered Accountant […] a job at SARS. The conversation was facilitated by a Mr Timothy Marimuthu whom media reports alleged had influence over Mr Magashula. The effect of these reports was to raise questions about the integrity of staff recruitment processes at SARS.”

Govender said his children were “very close” to Marimuthu’s grandchildren.

“From time to time I was instructed to take senior officers to Mr Marimuthu’s house,” Govender testified.

He said Brigadier (Campbell) Nyuswa, his provincial commander, issued the instructions.

Govender explained that “the subject” – presumably Marimuthu – wanted to provide details about criminal activities and had information on certain cases that were under investigation.

Among the officers he said he took to Marimuthu were Major General Gopaul (Gopz) Govender, who now heads the Hawks in Limpopo, and Warrant Officer Karl Sander, who previously testified at the Madlanga Commission about cocaine issues.

Govender said that when he and Sander went to Marimuthu, it was because Marimuthu apparently had information about the location of stolen containers, but it turned out that Sander already had similar details.

While being questioned about this, Govender conceded that this kind of information usually resided within organised crime circles.

Meeting linked to Mchunu

About a week ago, when initially testifying before the commission, Govender had said he believed he was being used to discredit KwaZulu-Natal police boss Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi and had been pressured to say that he acted on Mkhwanazi’s orders to carry out police shootings.

In July last year, Mkhwanazi held a press conference and alleged, among other matters, that a cartel had infiltrated the criminal justice system, politics and private sector.

His accusations gave rise to the Madlanga Commission.

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.

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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 Madlanga Commission on Monday.

‘Definitely not true’

A few weeks ago, Len John, KwaZulu-Natal’s deputy director for investigations with the Independent Police Investigative Directorate, testified before the commission.

He was of the view that crooks had infiltrated the police team Govender headed.

John also made striking allegations about the killing of Bevan Loftus, a tow truck operator, one of five men fatally wounded in a shootout in 2023.

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According to John, there was “a prima facie case” that Govender, acting for Clive Naicker, who allegedly headed a drug and tow trucking gang, had deployed the task team to kill a rival of Naicker’s – Loftus.

It had also been alleged that Naicker had promised to pay Govender R2.5-million to kill Loftus.

Loftus’s father, Gregory, also previously testified before the commission and said he had obtained an interdict to try to prevent Govender from having his son killed.

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

Govender on Monday denied involvement in the killing and receiving any payment from Naicker.

“It is definitely not true,” Govender said.

‘Looks like money laundering’

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.

According to Govender’s testimony, Chelin, involved in the shipping industry, had been a father figure to him and loaned him the money so he could move out of the area he had been living in.

Evidence leader Matthew Chaskalson later pointed out that Chelin had paid “over R1.5-million” to Govender – in cash.

Chaskalson asked why Chelin had not simply transferred the money from one bank account to another.

Govender said this may have been based on the way Chelin traded.

During the proceedings, it 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.

Depositing the cash via an ATM took Govender more than an hour because only R10,000 could be deposited at a time.

Chaskalson asked why his mother-in-law had “R300,000 lying around”. Govender said she had kept cash on her since her husband’s death.

Madlanga Commission chair Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga did not appear to be convinced about all this, especially the way the cash was deposited, saying: “There’s more than meets the eye, Colonel.”

Chaskalson asked Govender about various other transactions, money movements, and eventually said: “From where I’m sitting, it looks very much like a money laundering exercise.”

One transaction also led to Chaskalson remarking that it had “all the hallmarks of a money-laundering transaction.” DM

What next?

More witnesses are expected to testify before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry, which will go on a break from 3 to 11 September 2026 before resuming its work. The commission aims to wrap up its hearings by early October 2026. It will then complete a report and present it to President Cyril Ramaphosa.