Evaton police have arrested five security guards from the high-profile Calvin and Family Security Services (CFSS) for the kidnapping and murder of two local men, a case the company’s owner, tycoon Calvin Mathibeli, alleges is a fabricated attack on his business.
Mathibeli is the husband of Ukhozi FM and Gagasi FM content producer, as well as former Yizo Yizo and Imbewu star Smangele Mathibeli née Mbatha.
According to the police, the five guards were apprehended after an investigation into the deaths of Thulani Zondo (50) and Dennis Mashaba (22) of Evaton. The two men were kidnapped in February, and their families discovered their decomposed bodies at a government mortuary in May.
Evaton police station spokesperson constable Thulisile Msibi said according to the complainant – Mashaba’s unidentified sibling – on February 24 around 10.30pm, unknown men entered his brother’s shack and accused him of stealing cars. When he denied the allegation, he was beaten with a sjambok and fists before the men drove away with him.
She did not specify how the men then found Zondo.
Zondo’s sister, Lerato Mofokeng, said their families scoured hospitals and mortuaries across Gauteng trying to find their missing relatives.
“We found our brothers at Hillbrow government mortuary in May, and their bodies had decomposed. The police took us to Rand Water Pump Station in Eikenhof, where the bodies were dumped. Incidentally, Rand Water is one of CFSS clients,” said Mofokeng.
“We demanded that the police investigate, but they dragged their feet until we staged a sit-in at Evaton police station, demanding justice. It was only then that police found witnesses.”
Mofokeng denied any criminal involvement by her brother.
“Thulani was never involved in crime, and his life was cut short because of mistaken identity. Even now, as a family, we are still in pain that our brother’s life was taken in such a brutal murder, and we demand justice for both deceased.”
Maria Mashaba, a younger sister of Dennis Mashaba, stated, “I heard that the police had made a breakthrough by arresting five suspects, but the cops have not come to us to tell us about the arrests.”
The arrests shine a spotlight on CFSS, a company that has secured hundreds of millions of rands in government tenders. It provides protection services to major entities, including Rand Water, Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital and the City of Matlosana.
The company is owned by Mathibeli, the group CEO of Calvin and Family Group, a diversified holding company with subsidiaries in manufacturing, media and infrastructure.
However, Mathibeli has vehemently denied any wrongdoing by his company, framing the arrests as a deliberate setup.
“Implicating my guards in the kidnapping and murder of Zondo and Mashaba was a ruse engineered by my business competitor and rogue police officers,” he told Sunday World.
Mathibeli presented a counter-narrative of the events on February 24, claiming that one of his own security inspectors was kidnapped in Evaton that same night. “A colleague of his made a distress call, and we dispatched the team to locate the car with the help of the tracking company. There we found two other vehicles being stripped, but there was no one there other than the cars.”
Mathibeli questioned the police’s version of events, pointing out what he said were discrepancies. “In the kidnapping and murder docket, the police recorded that 15 white men were involved, yet surprisingly, the police have arrested five black officers. To show you that this whole thing is a façade, why did the police arrest five black people whose statements they didn’t even take?”
He alleges the motive is to sabotage his business.
“My company and people are being framed by the police and my competitor. We do have a contract with Rand Water, but we never worked at Eikenhof Pump Station.
“I am not taking this thing lying down. I will fight to the end to prove our innocence. Once we have dealt with the case, we are going to sue the police.”
As the police proceed with the case against the five guards, the incident has escalated into a high-stakes conflict, pitting a powerful business owner against the demands of two grief-stricken families.
