Tete, nicknamed Last Born, died in the hail of bullets, while the 27-year-old passenger was rushed to hospital with multiple gun wounds.
Zolani Tete in action. Picture: James Chance/Getty Images
“South Africa has lost one of the finest fighters it has ever produced,” were the words of sports minister Gayton McKenzie hours after the shocking murder of former world champion Zolani Tete.
Tete was gunned down outside his Mdantsane, Eastern Cape, home on Friday evening. He was 38.
He had reportedly pulled into his driveway after arriving from the gym when he was confronted by armed men in balaclavas who opened fire on him and a 27-year-old passenger.
Tete, nicknamed Last Born, died in the hail of bullets, while the passenger was rushed to hospital with multiple gun wounds.
‘Your son’s name will not be treated lightly by this country’
“I want to speak first to his family and to the people of Mdantsane. There are no words I can offer tonight that will be equal to what you have lost. Your son’s name will not be treated lightly by this country, and my department and I are at your disposal in the days ahead, in whatever way is useful to you,” McKenzie told those close to Tete.
He called for a manhunt of the suspects.
“Two armed men in balaclavas got out of a car in Mdantsane and killed one of our greatest world champions at his own front gate, and they are still out there tonight.
“I appeal to anyone who saw anything, who knows anything, who heard anything, to come forward. Somebody in that community knows who did this.”
Tete had spoken openly about pursuing a third world title after his four-year doping suspension ended last month.
“He was training for a return to the ring. He believed he still had something to give this country. He was right, but he will not get the chance now. He, and all of us, have been robbed.
“Mdantsane has produced more world champions than many nations manage in a century. Welcome Ncita. Vuyani Bungu, who trained Zolani and whom Zolani idolised as a boy sneaking his kit to school under his uniform. Tonight that township is burying one of its own, and the whole country stands with it.
“Lala ngoxolo, Last Born. You carried this flag into rooms it had no business being in, and you did it once in just eleven seconds. Your legacy will endure, though, without a timer.”
