[1] In November 2008, he was one of six ANC politicians in the Eastern Cape who announced that they had resigned from the party.
Their resignations were linked to the outcomes of the ANC's 52nd National Conference, held the previous year, at which Thabo Mbeki had failed to gain re-election as ANC president; at least some of those who resigned joined the Congress of the People (COPE), a breakaway party formed by Mbeki's allies.
[1][2] From 2012 to 2016, Matiwane was acting head of housing at Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality.
[3] He was suspended from the position amid a scandal about alleged procurement irregularities in a municipal construction project, and he resigned permanently on 22 September 2016, saying that the related disciplinary proceedings had "dragged on for far too long".
[3] In 2017, Matiwane was elected to the Provincial Executive Committee of the ANC's Eastern Cape branch.