Two men are expected to appear in the Knysna magistrate’s court on Monday following their arrest at the weekend for their suspected involvement in the murder of former Knysna mayor Aubrey Tsengwa.
The office of the Western Cape provincial commissioner, Lieutenant-General Sizakhele William Dyantyi, confirmed that Western Cape serious violent crime unit (SVC) detectives had arrested two suspects on charges of conspiracy to commit murder.
“The arrested men, aged 39 and 46, were apprehended on Saturday by a team comprising SVC detectives, crime intelligence, local police, [a] combat team and the drone unit.
“They were charged after being questioned by police.
“Two vehicles, three firearms and several [cellphones] have been seized as part of the investigation.”
The search for more suspects continued and further arrests were expected, Dyantyi’s office said.
“The investigation is expected to reveal the motive behind the shooting incident that left one person killed and three wounded.
“Knysna police subsequently registered a murder and three attempted murder cases after the shooting incident on Wednesday.”
Tsengwa, 48, was gunned down while on his way home on Wednesday evening.
A day later, former Knysna ward 7 councillor Mandla Matiwane, 47, and Knysna Codeta (Cape Organisation for the Democratic Taxi Association) chair Mandla Tyololo, 48, were shot dead in Bongani at about 9pm on Thursday.
All three were ANC members.
Though details remained sketchy, preliminary reports indicated that Matiwane and Tyololo were in a vehicle when they came under fire.
Tsengwa, the Ward 8 councillor, was killed in Ngxalo Street, Joodse Kamp, while driving home with several other people.
One of the passengers was wounded in the arm and taken to hospital.
Police said an unknown gunman approached their vehicle at about 9.20pm and opened fire before fleeing on foot.
Tsengwa was declared dead at the scene.
Knysna acting municipal manager Boy Ngubo had also confirmed that the municipality had deployed additional security for councillors while some have been moved to places of safety due to “the nature of the crisis”.
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