âUsed as a pawnâ: Govender implicates Mchunu in alleged bid to target Mkhwanazi

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On the afternoon of Friday, 21 August 2026, Lieutenant Colonel Deendadayalan (Deena) Govender, attached to the Hawks and commander of the KwaZulu-Natal police cash-in-transit (CIT) task team, entered the witness box â and with that, the Madlanga Commission entered new and potentially more politically charged territory.

Govenderâs testimony followed the eye-opening three-day appearance of National Coloured Congress MP Fadiel Adams, whose evidence raised questions about a second affidavit allegedly obtained by Investigating Directorate Against Corruption chief investigator Dylan Perumal during a late-night visit to Adamsâ home.

Then Govender dropped a bombshell of his own. He told the commission: âIt is my respectful view and submission that I am being used as a pawn to discredit Lieutenant General Mkhwanazi.â

Govenderâs allegations open another front in the alleged increasingly bitter conflict between Mkhwanazi and sidelined police minister Senzo Mchunu. The Lieutenant Colonel claimed he had been pressured to tell the commission that he had acted on Mkhwanaziâs instructions in relation to police shootings and was threatened with arrest, denial of bail and even poisoning if he refused to cooperate.

The allegations are particularly significant against the backdrop of Mkhwanaziâs earlier claims that Mchunu, who has been put on special leave, ordered the disbandment of the KwaZulu-Natal Political Killings Task Team (PKTT), allegedly to protect criminal syndicates.

Questions over alleged pressure to implicate Mkhwanazi

Govenderâs testimony before the Madlanga Commission on Friday shifted the focus from the alleged manipulation of an investigation to claims that he was being used to build a case against KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Mkhwanazi.

According to Govender, the episode began on 13 August 2026, when he was approached to take part in an informal meeting outside Ipidâs (Independent Police Investigative Unit) offices in Durban. He claimed he was told to âprotectâ himself by telling the commission that he had acted on Mkhwanaziâs instructions on police shootings, and that police officers, drug dealers and politicians wanted him to âthrow him under the busâ.

The allegations took a more serious turn when Govender said he had been contacted by Mavuso Ntandane, whom he described as an acquaintance of sidelined police minister Mchunu, and invited to a meeting.

That meeting took place on Thursday, 21 August 2026. At that meeting, Mavuso made a call to the police minister. Govender spoke to the minister on the phone and recognised his voice, as he had on other occasions spoken to Mchunu.

âThe minister inter alia asked how I was; told me that this is a very nice country; we must not let anyone ruin this country; he comes from the struggle; this reminds him of the apartheid days; I should tell the commission that I am getting instructions from Lieutenant General Mkhwanazi regarding police shootings,â Govender testified.

Serious concerns

The bigger picture is potentially more serious: The alleged involvement of a person Govender associates with Mchunu, followed by the claimed phone call with Mchunu himself, potentially connects the political sphere directly to an attempt to shape evidence before a judicial inquiry.

Mchunuâs name has become synonymous with the Madlanga Commission

Since the commission opened in Pretoria on 17 August 2025, few names have featured as consistently, or as controversially, as that of sidelined police minister Mchunu.

What began with questions concerning his decision to disband the Political Killings Task Team (PKTT) has developed into a series of allegations touching on political influence, organised crime, policing and the handling of sensitive investigations.

The first major controversy centred on Mchunuâs December 2024 decision to disband the PKTT, which triggered a serious clash with police leadership. National Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola questioned the timing, telling the commission that it âlooks like it happened by designâ that he was on leave when Mchunu signed the directive on 31 December 2024.

Whether Mchunuâs order to close the task team constituted inappropriate interference is likely to be debated at the Madlanga Commission and Parliamentâs SAPS Ad Hoc Committee. But the more important question is whether the sidelined ministerâs motives were improper.

Mchunuâs name subsequently surfaced on Thursday, 20 November 2025, in evidence concerning alleged links between ANC-aligned businessman Brown Mogotsi and organised crime accused Vusimusi âCatâ Matlala. The commission heard allegations that Mogotsi had advanced knowledge of the PKTTâs disbandment and acted as a link between Mchunu and Matlala â claims that have been disputed.

Mogotsi has been accused of being a key link in the alleged criminal infiltration of law enforcement and political circles, claims first made by Mkhwanazi in July 2025.

Then there was an episode when Mchunu used an affidavit by organised crime accused Matlala to back his assertions that the two did not know each other, as some accusations suggest.

Further evidence deepened the controversy. Witness C alleged that Matlala paid R500,000 towards Mchunuâs campaign for the ANC presidency. Matlala believed Mchunu didnât honour his side of the deal.

Adding to the allegations against Mchunu, he later allegedly flouted established protocols by arranging for a confidential Inspector-General of Intelligence (IGI) report, which the Madlanga Commission itself does not have official access to, to be delivered to Idac chief investigator Perumal.

The allegations against Mchunu collectively raise concerns that go beyond individual acts of misconduct to possible political interference in policing, intelligence and anti-corruption investigations.

The central implication is whether Mchunu was exercising legitimate political oversight or whether, as the allegations suggest, he became an active participant in directing state investigative machinery against particular individuals. DM

Reporting originally appeared via Daily Maverick. Read the full source for additional context.