Zolani Tete was shot dead outside his home in NU17, Mdantsane, in the Eastern Cape, at around 18:30 on Friday, 21 August 2026. The former two-division world boxing champion was 38.
Tete was waiting for his gate to open when two armed men wearing balaclavas got out of a vehicle and opened fire on him and a 27-year-old woman who was in the car with him, as reported by IOL.
How Zolani Tete was shot dead in Mdantsane
Police spokeswoman Brigadier Nobuntu Gantana said a case of murder and attempted murder was being investigated.
The woman was shot several times and was taken to hospital, and her condition had not been confirmed at the time of publishing. No motive had been established and no arrest had been made.
What the minister said after Zolani Tete was shot dead
Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture Gayton McKenzie said in a statement on Friday evening:
“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 appealed to residents of Mdantsane for information about the two men:
“Two armed men in balaclavas got out of a car in Mdantsane and killed one of our greatest world champion 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.”
He asked the media and the public not to circulate images or unverified detail, and described the comeback Tete had been preparing:
“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.”
What Zolani Tete achieved before he was shot dead
Tete won his first world title in 2014, beating Teiru Kinoshita on points in Japan for the International Boxing Federation junior-bantamweight belt. He moved up to bantamweight and took the World Boxing Organisation title, defending it in Belfast and in Yekaterinburg.
In Belfast in November 2017, he knocked out fellow South African Siboniso Gonya after 11 seconds, the quickest knockout in a world title fight and a record that still stands.
His professional record stood at 29 wins, 22 by knockout, four losses and one no contest.
His last fight was a win over Britain’s Jason Cunningham at Wembley Arena in London in July 2022. That result was overturned after he tested positive for stanozolol, an anabolic steroid, and he served a four-year suspension. He denied knowingly taking the substance.
That suspension expired in July 2026 and Tete had returned to training. The murder and attempted murder investigation was continuing, and McKenzie said Boxing South Africa and his department would consult the family on how the sport should honour him.
