KNYSNA, Friday 2 October 2026 — Former Knysna mayor Thando Matika, acting municipal manager Boy Manqoba Ngubo and acting chief financial officer Busisiwe Lubelwana have been arrested on corruption charges linked to an alleged kickback scheme involving a municipal security contract, adding to political instability in the Western Cape municipality weeks before the local government elections.
The three were arrested on Thursday by the South African Police Service’s Political Killings Task Team following allegations that a businessman holding a municipal security-services contract was solicited for kickbacks in exchange for the continuation of the contract.
Police allege that the businessman had already paid hundreds of thousands of rand because he feared his contract would otherwise be terminated.
Matika, Ngubo and Lubelwana face corruption charges and are expected to appear in court on Monday, 5 October.
The allegations have not been tested in court and the three are entitled to the presumption of innocence.
Matika was removed as mayor last month
Matika’s identification gives the arrest immediate political significance ahead of the 4 November local government elections.
He was removed from the African National Congress and lost his position as Knysna mayor in September after appearing as a candidate for the South African Communist Party in the upcoming elections.
The South African Communist Party is contesting the municipal elections independently of the ANC.
The ANC formally notified Knysna Municipality that Matika was no longer an ANC councillor and requested that his council seat be declared vacant. Deputy mayor Morton Gericke has since been serving as acting mayor.
Matika is listed as an SACP proportional-representation candidate for the November election.
His arrest therefore involves not merely a former municipal office-bearer but a candidate seeking election to the next Knysna council.
Matika disputes removal from council
Matika has continued to dispute the circumstances surrounding his removal.
At Knysna’s final scheduled ordinary council meeting on Wednesday, Matika and another former ANC councillor took seats at the council table despite Speaker Mark Willemse telling them they were no longer councillors.
Willemse said the municipality had been informed by their former party of their removal and asked them to move to the public gallery or leave the chamber.
When they remained, the speaker called for law-enforcement officials to remove them.
The meeting ultimately collapsed after losing its quorum, with only nine councillors remaining.
According to IOL, it was the sixth consecutive Knysna council meeting to either fail or collapse.
The dispute over Matika’s council status is separate from the criminal allegations for which he was arrested on Thursday.
Senior municipal administration also implicated
Ngubo and Lubelwana occupy two of the municipality’s most important administrative and financial positions.
As acting municipal manager, Ngubo heads the municipal administration, while Lubelwana serves as acting chief financial officer.
Their arrests mean the corruption investigation reaches both the municipality’s recent political leadership and senior administration.
Police have not yet publicly detailed the specific conduct allegedly attributable to each of the three accused.
SAPS national spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said the investigation followed information received by police about alleged demands made to a businessman awarded the security contract.
“The arrests follow information received by the police regarding allegations that a businessman who had been awarded a security services contract was being solicited for kickbacks in exchange for the continuation of the contract,” Mathe said.
Police allege the businessman had already paid hundreds of thousands of rand.
Political Killings Task Team made arrests
The arrests were carried out by the South African Police Service Political Killings Task Team.
The unit has become a central focus of national scrutiny following allegations about interference in criminal investigations raised by KwaZulu-Natal provincial police commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi.
Those allegations led to the establishment of the Madlanga Commission and a parliamentary ad hoc committee.
The task team’s involvement in Knysna comes against a particularly serious backdrop of political violence in the municipality.
Former Knysna mayor and ANC Ward 8 councillor Aubrey Tsengwa was shot dead in August.
Two men were subsequently arrested on charges of conspiracy to commit murder and three counts of attempted murder arising from the attack.
Former Ward 7 councillor Mandla Matiwane and taxi leader Mandla Tyololo were shot dead the following night.
The corruption charges against Matika, Ngubo and Lubelwana should not be interpreted as establishing that they are connected to those killings. Police have not made such an allegation.
Knysna enters election with fractured council
The arrests come as Knysna approaches the election with an already unstable council.
Matika became mayor in February 2025 after the EFF and Knysna Independent Movement joined a motion of no confidence that removed Tsengwa.
Following Matika’s departure from the ANC, the 21-seat council was reported to have eight DA councillors, three ANC councillors, two each from the Knysna Independent Movement and Patriotic Alliance, and one each from the Plaaslike Besorgde Inwoners and EFF, with four vacancies.
Repeated failed council meetings have compounded the governance uncertainty.
The municipality will receive an entirely new political mandate when residents vote on 4 November.
The arrest of an SACP candidate who until last month served as mayor, alongside the municipality’s acting administrative and financial heads, is therefore likely to remain a significant issue through the final month of campaigning.
Matika, Ngubo and Lubelwana are expected to make their first court appearances on Monday, when further details about the State’s case may become public.
