Patriotic Alliance (PA) Cape Town mayoral candidate Cheslyn Daniels has been arrested following an alleged domestic dispute in Belhar.
Western Cape police confirmed that a 33-year-old man and a 30-year-old woman were detained after a case involving common assault linked to domestic violence and an alleged contravention of a court order was registered.
Daniels, who represents Ward 56 in the City of Cape Town, was arrested alongside Devenay Rayners, who is believed to be his current wife. Both suspects are expected to appear in the Bellville A-court on Tuesday, 11 August.
Cheslyn Daniels Arrest Follows Belhar Police Call
According to police, the incident was reported at about 6.30pm on Saturday, 9 August, in Koeberg Street, Belhar.
SAPS spokesperson Captain FC van Wyk confirmed that Belhar police opened the case for investigation.
“This office can confirm that Belhar police registered a case of assault common (D/V) and contravention of a court order for investigation following an incident on Saturday, 2026-08-09 at 18:30 at Koeberg Street, Belhar,” Van Wyk said.
“Both suspects were detained and will appear in Bellville A-court on 2026-08-11,” he said.
Police also confirmed that a child connected to the incident was returned to his mother following the arrests.
SAPS has not provided further details about the alleged assault or the circumstances surrounding the alleged breach of the court order.
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PA leader Gayton McKenzie was among the first to publicly address the arrests, telling party supporters on social media that Daniels and Rayners had been detained.
McKenzie indicated that the matter involved an argument involving Daniels’ former wife. However, police have not confirmed the identities of the people involved in the dispute or provided details about what allegedly led to the arrests.
“I don’t have all the details yet, will brief Patriots once I have been fully briefed,” McKenzie said.
He added that the dispute involved “3 people that are all very close to me” and said he was waiting for further information from the PA’s secretary-general.
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Social commentator Sebastian Petersen also claimed in a Facebook post that the incident involved Daniels and his former wife and allegedly centred on their child.
Petersen further claimed that Daniels’ current wife became involved in the altercation.
Those claims have not been independently verified. SAPS has also not confirmed that account of events, with police only confirming that a child was returned to his mother after the arrests.
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Daniels was announced as the Patriotic Alliance’s candidate for mayor of Cape Town ahead of the 2026 local government elections.
The Cape Argus approached the Patriotic Alliance for comment on the arrests, the circumstances surrounding the incident and whether Daniels would face any internal or precautionary action while the criminal case is pending.
Daniels was also approached directly for comment.
Neither the party spokesperson nor Daniels had responded by the time of publication.
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Daniels and his co-accused are expected to appear in the Bellville Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, 11 August.
The allegations against both suspects have not been tested in court.
