PKTT Arrests Suspected Hitman in Knysna Mayor Aubrey Tsengwa Murder Case
PKTT Arrests Suspected Hitman in Knysna Mayor Aubrey Tsengwa Murder Case
South African authorities have arrested a 44-year-old man suspected of being a hitman in connection with the murder of former Knysna executive mayor Aubrey Tsengwa. The Political Killings Task Team confirmed the suspect was taken into custody during an operation in the Eastern Cape, days after the politician was gunned down in his vehicle.
The Political Killings Task Team (PKTT) has arrested a 44-year-old man suspected of acting as a hitman in the murder of former Knysna executive mayor Aubrey Tsengwa. South African Police Service (SAPS) spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe confirmed the arrest in a statement issued on Sunday, noting that the suspect was taken into custody during a takedown operation in Peddie, Eastern Cape, on Friday, November 6.
The arrest follows an investigation jointly led by the task team and SAPS. Tsengwa, an African National Congress (ANC) ward councillor, was shot while seated in his vehicle in Knysna on August 19, 2026. Three other occupants in the car survived the attack.
The suspect remains in police custody and is scheduled to appear before the Knysna Magistrate's Court on Monday, November 9. He faces one count of murder and three counts of attempted murder related to the incident.
Tsengwa’s political career in Knysna was marked by significant volatility. He assumed office as mayor in August 2022 after a coalition comprising the ANC, Patriotic Alliance, Plaaslike Besorgde Inwoners, and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) voted out the Democratic Alliance (DA) candidate, Davis. Over the subsequent two-and-a-half years, Tsengwa faced multiple motions of no confidence.
His tenure ended in February 2025 when the EFF and the Knysna Independent Movement, both coalition partners, removed him from office. Tsengwa resigned his Ward 8 seat on March 31, 2025, prior to Western Cape Local Government MEC Anton Bredell acting on a special investigation into councillors who had made political appointments deemed illegal by the Western Cape High Court.
The ANC suspended Tsengwa in April 2025, stating that his resignation undermined the party and necessitated an unnecessary by-election. However, the party later nominated him for the Ward 8 by-election on June 25, 2025. He won the seat with 52.12% of the vote, a decline from the 72% the ANC polled in the ward during the 2021 elections.
Tensions within Tsengwa’s political circle had escalated prior to his death. In early 2025, Phaahle Simon Malepeng, Knysna’s then acting municipal manager, alleged that Tsengwa had threatened him with death. Voice notes containing similar threats against Malepeng were circulated in April 2025, which the ANC’s regional structure linked to the Ward 8 by-election. Police stated they had identified a suspect in the intimidation docket.
The killing of Tsengwa occurs amid rising concerns regarding politically motivated violence in the Western Cape ahead of the 2026 Local Government Elections. According to data from the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime (GI-TOC), at least 43 people were killed in 45 suspected political attacks nationally during the first nine months of 2026.
In the Western Cape, at least seven suspected political killings were reported in the same period. Victims included Tsengwa; Sinovuyo Dyokwe, a DA ward candidate shot in Dunoon; and Leon Ngcikwe, a Build One South Africa (BOSA) ward candidate killed in Gugulethu.
Tsengwa’s death follows a history of political violence in the region. In July 2018, Victor Molosi, the previous ANC councillor for Ward 8 and chief whip, was shot in the head near his home in Concordia while returning from a school governing body meeting. The ANC’s Knysna region is named in Molosi’s honor.
A.Rowais--al-Hayat
