Two-time world boxing champion Zolani Tete was shot and killed outside his home in Mdantsane, Eastern Cape, on Friday in what authorities describe as a targeted ambush.
The 38-year-old former WBO bantamweight and IBF junior-bantamweight titleholder was sitting in his car waiting for his gate to open when two armed suspects wearing balaclavas approached and opened fire. Police confirmed the attack was deliberate and are treating it as a murder.
A Career Marked by Records
Tete, known by the nickname “Last Born,” held the Guinness World Record for the fastest knockout in a title fight, stopping Siboniso Gonya in just 11 seconds during a 2017 WBO bantamweight defense. He won world titles in two weight classes over a professional career that spanned from 2006 to 2022.
His career was interrupted by a four-year doping ban after testing positive for stanozolol in August 2023. The ban expired just three weeks before his death, on July 29, 2026.
No Suspect Identified
South African police said the perpetrators fled the scene and no arrests have been made. South Africa’s Department of Sport, Arts and Culture confirmed Tete’s death and called it a devastating loss for the nation’s sporting community.
The shooting adds to South Africa’s persistent problem with violent crime, which has claimed the lives of several high-profile sports figures in recent years. Eastern Cape province, where Mdantsane is located, has been particularly affected by gun violence.
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