Former two-division world champion Zolani Tete has been shot and killed outside his home in Mdantsane, Eastern Cape, at age 38.
Police said Tete was waiting for his gate to open when two masked gunmen exited a vehicle and opened fire. A 27-year-old woman traveling with him was also shot multiple times and hospitalized. Tete attempted to drive into his yard but died at the scene.
South Africa’s Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture Gayton McKenzie confirmed Tete’s death.
“I will not speculate about who did this or why.”
Four suspects have since been arrested in connection with the shooting. A 22-year-old has been charged with murder and attempted murder, while police continue to investigate the case.
Tete (29-4, 22 KOs), known as “Last Born,” held world titles at junior bantamweight and bantamweight. He is best remembered for stopping fellow South African Siboniso Gonya in just 11 seconds in Belfast in 2017, the fastest knockout in a world title fight.
Tete won the IBF junior-bantamweight title in 2014 by defeating Teiru Kinoshita in Kobe, Japan, and later captured the WBO bantamweight championship. He also previously held the WBF flyweight title.
The killing has drawn renewed attention to violent crime in South Africa and has hit especially hard in Mdantsane, a community with a long boxing tradition.