South Africa’s Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, Gayton McKenzie, has appealed for public assistance after two-time world boxing champion Zolani Tete was fatally shot outside his home in Mdantsane, Eastern Cape province, on Friday. Tete, 38, was pronounced dead at the scene. A 27-year-old woman accompanying him in the vehicle sustained multiple gunshot wounds and was hospitalized.
The Ministry of Sport, Arts and Culture confirmed in a formal statement that Tete and the woman were waiting in a car for his gate to open when two masked gunmen opened fire. The South African Police Service has opened an investigation. No arrests have been announced.
McKenzie addressed the family directly in his statement. “There are no words I can offer tonight that will be equal to what you have lost,” the minister wrote. “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, whatever way is useful to you.” He also directed an appeal at the Mdantsane community: “Somebody in that community knows who did this.”
Tete, nicknamed “Last Born,” held world titles in two weight divisions, the IBF junior-bantamweight and WBO bantamweight belts. His most enduring record in the sport came in 2017, when he knocked out fellow South African Siboniso Gonya in 11 seconds, a one-punch finish that earned a Guinness World Record for the fastest knockout in a world title fight. That record has not been surpassed.
His ascent began in 2014 with a 12-round unanimous decision over Teiru Kinoshita in Kobe, Japan, capturing the IBF junior-bantamweight title. He defended it a year later with a technical knockout over Liverpool-based Paul Butler in the United Kingdom. Moving up to bantamweight in 2017, he won the WBO interim title against Arthur Villanueva before claiming full champion status and defending the belt three times between 2017 and 2019. His professional record stood at 29 wins, 4 losses, and one no-contest.
That no-contest carries its own regulatory weight. In July 2022, following a knockout victory over Jason Cunningham, Tete tested positive for the anabolic steroid stanozolol. The UK Anti-Doping Agency imposed a four-year ban, the Cunningham result was changed to a no-contest, and his suspension was not due to conclude until July 2026. The ministry confirmed he had been training with the intention of returning to competitive boxing once that ban expired.
McKenzie acknowledged what that ambition meant. “He still believed he had something to give to the sport,” the minister wrote. “He was right, but he will not get the chance now. He, and all of us, have been robbed.”
Tributes arrived from the boxing world after news of his death broke. World Boxing posted a memorial on social media. John Riel Casimero, the Filipino boxer who defeated Tete for the WBO bantamweight title in November 2018, wrote on X: “We shared the canvas and pushed each other to be our absolute best inside the squared ring. A true warrior and champion. Rest in peace, champ. Prayers with your family and loved ones.”
Whether the police investigation in Mdantsane will produce answers, and how quickly, remains the central question now facing the South African authorities.