The chairperson of the Select Committee on Education, Science and the Creative Industries has called on law enforcement agencies to bring the killers of champion boxer Zolani Tete to justice following his murder in Mdantsane on the weekend.
Makhi Feni said lawlessness and access to illegal firearms is threatening not only the lives of South Africans, but the country’s stability.
“The ease with which these thugs are able to just disappear among communities, and when arrested get bail, is becoming a pandemic. Law enforcements and government agencies need to deal decisively with the killing of innocent South Africans. South Africans have no other home other than South Africa, so it is unacceptable that people are killed for no apparent reason,” said Feni.
Brazen attack
Tete (38), a former two-time world boxing champion, was shot dead on Friday evening outside his home in NU 17, Mdantsane. He was sitting in his car waiting for his gate to open at about 18:30 when two armed suspects wearing balaclavas emerged from a vehicle and fired multiple shots at him. Tete attempted to drive into his yard to escape the gunfire but succumbed to his injuries at the scene.
A 27-year-old woman who was a passenger in the vehicle with Tete was also shot multiple times and remains hospitalised.
Four suspects have been arrested in connection with the murder. The first suspect, 22-year-old Uzuzole Goqwana, was arrested on Saturday in KuGompo City. He appeared in the Mdantsane Magistrate’s Court on Monday, where he faced charges of murder and attempted murder. He was brought to court in a wheelchair and remanded to the medical ward of the West Bank Correctional Centre.
Three additional suspects, aged 27, 27, and 28, were arrested on Sunday in Mdantsane and Scenery Park. They are scheduled to appear in court today, Tuesday 25 August.
Eastern Cape Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Vuyisile Ncata said the suspects in custody include those who carried out the killing and those believed to be the masterminds.
Arrests not enough
Feni said Tete’s murder has made it clear that arresting criminals and serving them is no longer enough.
“When people get arrested for contact crimes to only be released on parole or bail to come and perpetuate exactly the things they were arrested for, it is clear arrest is not deterrent enough,” he said.
“These kinds of crimes must carry serious punishment. This kind of killing is just continuing unabated. That is a serious concern and something that government and the police must resolve. Arrests are no longer enough when we continue to count bodies.”
The committee sends its heartfelt condolences to the Tete family and friends and to the boxing fraternity.
“The committee welcomes the arrest but that is woefully inadequate when a person has died. To the family we say akuhlanga lungehlanga, thuthuzelekani ngoko,” concluded Feni.
Boxing champion
Tete held the IBF junior bantamweight title from 2014 to 2015 and the WBO bantamweight title from 2017 to 2019. He made history on 18 November 2017 when he scored the fastest knockout ever recorded in a world title boxing match, knocking out challenger Siboniso Gonya with his first punch just 11 seconds into the fight at the Odyssey Arena in Belfast. The feat was registered in the Guinness World Records.
Prior to his death, Tete had been serving a four-year ban for a failed doping test following his July 2022 fight against Jason Cunningham. His ban concluded on 29 July and he had been actively training for a comeback fight planned for 29 November.
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