Former two-time world boxing champion Zolani “Last Born” Tete was shot dead outside his NU17, Mdantsane, home on Friday evening after two armed suspects allegedly opened fire on his vehicle.
The 38-year-old died at the scene, while a 27-year-old woman travelling with him was seriously injured. The suspects remain at large as police investigate the murder.
Police hunt for gunmen
Eastern Cape police spokesperson Brigadier Nobuntu Gantana said the shooting happened at about 6.30pm.
According to preliminary information, Tete had arrived home and was waiting for his gate to open when two unknown armed suspects, reportedly wearing balaclavas, emerged and opened fire.
“In an attempt to escape the hail of bullets, the deceased drove his vehicle into the yard. He unfortunately succumbed to his injuries and was declared deceased on the scene,” Gantana said.
The 27-year-old female passenger sustained multiple gunshot wounds and was taken to hospital, where she remained under medical care.
A world champion from Mdantsane
Tete was one of South Africa’s most successful modern boxers and rose from Mdantsane to become a two-weight world champion.
The southpaw won the IBF junior-bantamweight world title in 2014 before going on to hold the WBO bantamweight title from 2017 to 2019.
He became a global boxing sensation in November 2017 when he knocked out fellow South African Siboniso Gonya in just 11 seconds, setting the Guinness World Record for the fastest knockout in a title fight.
Tete finished his professional career with 29 victories, 22 knockouts, four defeats and one no contest.
Positive drug test led to four-year ban
The boxing star’s career was dramatically interrupted after his July 2022 victory over British boxer Jason Cunningham.
Tete stopped Cunningham in the fourth round, but the result was later changed to a no contest after traces of the banned substance stanozolol were found in his urine sample.
The positive test resulted in a four-year suspension imposed in 2023. Tete maintained that he did not knowingly ingest the substance and sought to challenge the finding.
Reports earlier this year said a French laboratory supported his contention that the amount detected suggested the substance had not been intentionally ingested. However, the anti-doping authorities were not persuaded and the four-year sanction remained in place.
The suspension expired only weeks ago, in late July 2026, and Tete had been preparing for a return to the ring before his life was cut short.
His manager, Mlandeli Tengimfene, confirmed his death and had previously indicated that the former champion was planning to resume his boxing career following the end of the ban.
A career remembered for devastating power
At his peak, Tete was regarded as one of Africa’s most dangerous fighters in the lighter weight divisions, combining an awkward southpaw stance, a long reach and formidable knockout power.
His 11-second destruction of Gonya remains one of the most extraordinary moments in South African boxing history.
Now, the former world champion who once carried the hopes of Mdantsane into boxing arenas around the world has been killed in the township where his journey began.
Police have opened a murder investigation and are searching for the gunmen behind the deadly ambush.
