Two-time world champion boxer Zolani Tete, 38, was fatally shot in an ambush outside his home in Mdantsane, Eastern Cape, on Friday evening. Police confirmed that Tete was arriving at his residence when two armed suspects, wearing balaclavas, emerged from a vehicle and opened fire.
A 27-year-old female passenger who was with Tete sustained multiple gunshot wounds and remains hospitalized. Police spokesperson Brigadier Nobuntu Gantana stated that Tete succumbed to his injuries at the scene. The assailants fled and remain at large.
Tete, who held the WBO bantamweight title from 2017 to 2019, also held a Guinness World Record for the fastest knockout in a title fight, achieved in 11 seconds in 2017. His last professional fight was in July 2022, a victory that was later ruled a no-contest after a failed drug test. He received a four-year ban from the UK Anti-Doping Agency for testing positive for stanozolol, a ban that concluded on July 29 of this year. Despite the ban, Tete had expressed his intent to return to boxing and was reportedly training for a comeback fight scheduled for November 29.
Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture Gayton McKenzie described Tete as one of South Africa's finest fighters and appealed to the public for any information that could assist the police investigation. "Somebody in that community knows who did this," McKenzie urged.
Boxing South Africa (BSA) expressed profound shock and sadness at Tete's passing, calling him an icon of South African boxing and an inspiration to a generation of fighters. The organization extended its condolences to Tete's family, friends, and the boxing fraternity, noting his legacy as one of the country's few two-weight world champions.