Two men aged 30 and 22 have been arrested after former world boxing champion Zolani Tete was shot dead outside his home in Mdantsane on Friday evening.
Tete, 38, was in his vehicle at NU17 waiting for his gate to open at about 18:30 when two armed men wearing balaclavas got out of another vehicle and opened fire.
He drove into the yard trying to escape and was declared dead at the scene. A 27-year-old woman travelling with him was hit multiple times and was taken to hospital.
Police have opened cases of murder and attempted murder. No motive has been established, and the two men in custody have not been charged and have not appeared in court.
What police have said about the Zolani Tete shooting
Eastern Cape police spokesperson Brigadier Nobuntu Gantana said on Friday night that a murder investigation had been opened and that no arrests had been made at that stage.
That changed on Saturday. Gantana confirmed that two men had been apprehended in KuGompo City, the renamed East London, following what police described as a swift, intelligence-driven operation involving several law enforcement units.
The two are being questioned in connection with Tete’s murder and the attempted murder of the woman. Police have said investigators are pursuing several leads and that further arrests are expected.
They have released nothing further. “The SAPS is unable to disclose further details regarding the motive,” Gantana said, citing the sensitive nature of the ongoing investigation.
Sports, Arts and Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie, who confirmed the death late on Friday, took the same position. “I will not speculate about who did this or why,” he said.
Claims circulating on social media about how the arrests were made have not been confirmed by police and should be treated with caution.
The comeback that was six weeks away
Tete had a date. His manager, Mlandeli Tengimfene, said he was scheduled to return to the ring on 29 November.
That fight would have been his first since July 2022. He beat Britain’s Jason Cunningham at Wembley Arena that month, but the result was overturned to a no contest after he tested positive for the anabolic steroid stanozolol. He received a four-year suspension and consistently denied knowingly taking the substance.
The ban expired on 29 July this year. He had been training towards the comeback for weeks.
His older brother, Siyabulela Tete, said the family had been relieved that the suspension was behind him and that he was getting another opportunity. The family called him Master.
“We pray that justice is served for our brother,” Siyabulela Tete said, adding that they did not know why anyone would kill him.
Zolani Tete’s career, from Mdantsane to Belfast
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Known as | Last Born |
| Age at death | 38 |
| Home | NU17, Mdantsane, Eastern Cape |
| Started boxing | Age eight |
| Professional record | 29 wins, 4 losses, 1 no contest, from 34 bouts |
| Knockouts | 22 |
| World titles | WBF flyweight, 2007 to 2008; IBF junior-bantamweight from 2014; WBO bantamweight, 2017 and 2019 |
| Breakthrough | Beat Teiru Kinoshita on points in Kobe, Japan, in 2014 |
| Best known for | An 11-second knockout of Siboniso Gonya in Belfast in November 2017, the fastest stoppage in a world title fight |
| Final bout | July 2022, beat Jason Cunningham at Wembley Arena, later ruled a no contest |
| Scheduled return | 29 November 2026 |
The Gonya knockout is what put him in front of a global audience. He landed the first punch of the fight and it was over before most viewers had settled.
The record does not show the setbacks. An early-career defeat to fellow South African Moruti Mthalane in a world title bid was followed by a difficult stretch before the Kinoshita win in Japan reset his career.
He was a southpaw who fought in the lower weight divisions for more than a decade and won titles in two of them.
What Mdantsane has lost
Mdantsane is South Africa’s boxing township. It has produced a run of world champions from small, under-equipped gyms, and Tete was one of its most successful exports.
Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane said the province had lost one of its finest sporting sons. “I am devastated by the shocking and senseless killing of our champion,” he said, calling on law enforcement to leave no stone unturned.
Mabuyane said Tete’s route from the streets and gyms of Mdantsane to a world title showed young people in the townships that they could aim beyond their immediate circumstances.
The killing has also returned attention to violent crime. South Africa continues to record one of the world’s highest murder rates, despite recent declines in homicides.
That context matters for what happens next rather than for what happened on Friday. Visible security operations do not resolve cases. Southafriworld has previously reported that even large-scale deployments do not replace detective work, case building and prosecution preparation, which is the work now under way in this investigation.
What police have not said
A great deal about this case remains unestablished, and the gaps are worth stating plainly rather than filling.
Police have not disclosed a motive. They have not said how the two men were identified or where the arrests took place beyond naming KuGompo City. They have not said whether the men are alleged to be the gunmen or connected in another way.
No charges have been confirmed and no court date has been announced. Under South African law the two are entitled to the presumption of innocence, and nothing published here should be read as suggesting otherwise.
The condition of the woman wounded in the attack has not been updated beyond confirmation that she was hospitalised. She has not been named.
Police have asked anyone who witnessed the shooting or has information to contact Crime Stop on 08600 10111 or to use the MySAPS app, and say all information will be treated confidentially.
Further arrests are expected. Any court appearance by the two men in custody would follow within the ordinary 48-hour period after arrest, which would place it early in the coming week.
