Controversial land claimant and self-acclaimed tribal chief, Velaphi Victor Lekhuleni (48), was shot dead in Mamelodi West, Section C5 on Tuesday night.
He was apparently killed at the gate of his 16-year-old girlfriend’s home.
Police spokesperson Captain Jan Sepatu confirmed Lekhuleni’s death, saying further details were not immediately available.
Lekhuleni caused an uproar earlier this year when he instituted one of the largest land claims to date in the country.
Lekhuleni laid claim to almost half of the Tshwane metro, starting from Cullinan in the east and ending in Zambesi Road in the west.
His claim also involved Wapadrand and most of the new east of Pretoria up to the Innovation Hub in Lynnwood, Die Wilgers, Mamelodi, a part of the Magalies Mountain all the way north to Derdepoort.
Lekhuleni, who was born and raised in Mamelodi, owned an initiation school but community members and friends of his family described his claims of being a “chief” as nonsense.
The Land Claims Commission was in the process of investigating his background and also the legality of his claim at the time of his death.
Police investigations into the killing were continuing.
More information to follow.
Read: Royal family disowns “chief”
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