A multi-province police operation targeting prominent private security figure Calvin Mathibeli has been called into question following the emergence of a critical discrepancy in official documentation and serious allegations from his legal team.
Members of the specialised Political Killings Task Team (PKTT) are understood to have conducted coordinated visits at four properties linked to Mathibeli last week Friday. The operations, which unfolded across Durban and later in Gauteng, were allegedly executed in pursuit of an arrest warrant.
Discrepancy in details of arrest warrant
Sunday World can now reveal that the arrest warrant contains a case number that corresponds to a separate, concluded criminal matter involving a different individual entirely. This discovery has prompted formal, high-level demands for explanation from Mathibeli’s attorneys to the national police commissioner.
The first engagement occurred at Mathibeli’s residence in La Lucia, Durban. Accounts provided to this publication describe a substantial police presence. According to Mathibeli, uniformed SAPS members, some with faces concealed, arrived in multiple vehicles.
“My sister told the police that I was not at the property,” Mathibeli recounted. “She relayed to me that they insisted on satisfying themselves that I was not inside. People present described officers taking positions around the perimeter.”
Following this, the team, said to have been led by an officer identified as Colonel Smith, proceeded to Mathibeli’s business premises in Durban North. It was here, according to Mathibeli’s account, that his wife, Smangele Mathibeli, was encountered.
“They stopped my wife and demanded she reveal my exact location,” Mathibeli stated. “She told them she had no clue. According to her, the interaction then escalated into threats and insults.”
Series of raids in KZN, Gauteng
The operation continued to a private residence in Mhlanga. This was before a parallel action in Gauteng later the same day. There, a separate police contingent attended his offices in Ekurhuleni.
The central pillar of the police’s action was the arrest warrant. Sunday World has obtained and reviewed a copy. The document indicates a criminal case against Mathibeli was opened at Edenvale police station in June 2024. The warrant itself was only issued by a magistrate on December 8, 2025.
The investigation has uncovered a profound irregularity. The unique case number on the warrant for Mathibeli’s arrest is identical to that of a separate, pre-existing case.
That case involves Jason Perumal. Court records confirm Perumal was arrested and charged by Edenvale police on April 25, 2025. He was charged for fraud, making his first appearance that same day.
In contrast, the warrant for Mathibeli, bearing the identical case number and issued eight months after Perumal’s arrest, states he is facing charges of fraud and customs violation. It further incorrectly states he was supposed to have appeared at the Germiston Magistrate’s Court on November 11, 2025. This is a date on which no matter pertaining to him was scheduled.
Mathibeli lawyers demand answers
Confronted with this discrepancy, Mathibeli has declared the warrant irregular. And he has instructed his legal representatives to seek urgent clarity.
In a formal letter of demand dated 21 December 2025, addressed to the National Police Commissioner, General Fannie Masemola, and seen by Sunday World, attorneys from Vumase S.S. Incorporated set out a detailed chronology and levelled serious allegations.
The letter describes the La Lucia incident. It notes “more than 20 SAPS members”, several with concealed faces. And it states the officers claimed to be “acting under instructions from the KwaZulu-Natal provincial commissioner, Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi”.
It details that Mathibeli’s sister informed officers he no longer resided at the address. “While the sister was at the gate, other SAPS members were surrounding the boundary walls,” the letter alleges. It further contends that at the Durban North offices, Mathibeli’s wife was “threatened and insulted”.
The legal correspondence reaches its most pivotal point regarding the warrant’s validity. “Our client has reason to believe that the said warrant is fraudulent, irregular, or unlawfully obtained,” the attorneys state.
Directorate has no record of the operation
They further claim enquiries with the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI) established it “had no knowledge whatsoever of the operation”. The letter adds the DPCI reportedly denied having any officer known as “Colonel Smith” involved.
Crucially, the lawyers assert contact was made with the investigating officer officially assigned to the case.
“He confirmed that the case in question has only one suspect and that our client is not a suspect in that matter. He has no knowledge of any instruction issued to arrest our client,” the letter states.
The attorneys demanded a full explanation within three days. At the time of publication, no substantive response had been received.
When approached for comment on the allegations, including the specific document discrepancy, national police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe provided a limited response.
“No comment from PKTT,” Mathe stated.
