Who was Zolani Tete? Former World Boxing Champion shot dead ouside his home alongside a woman; here’s what we know about the motive and ongoing probe

Former world boxing champion Zolani "Last Born" Tete was shot dead outside his home in Mdantsane township, South Africa's Eastern Cape province, on Friday (August 21, 2026). The 38-year-old was waiting for his residential gate to open when two armed men wearing balaclavas got out of a vehicle and opened fire, according to police and Sports, Arts and Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie.

In his statement, McKenzie also said that a 27-year-old woman was sitting in the car with Tete when he was attacked. She was shot multiple times and remains in the hospital. An investigation has been launched into the incident, but the motive remains unclear.

Minister's Message to the Family and Community

“South Africa has lost one of the finest fighters it has ever produced,” McKenzie said. “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.”

McKenzie also addressed Tete's family directly in the news release, saying that Tete’s name “will not be treated lightly”. “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,” he said.

“I will not speculate about who did this or why. That investigation belongs to the South African Police Service, and the detectives working it tonight need support.” McKenzie urged members of the community to share any information they may have about the incident, stressing that the suspects are “still out there.”

“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,” McKenzie said.

A Historic Career

Tete rose to international fame when he won the IBF junior bantamweight title in 2014. He later held the WBO bantamweight title from 2017 to 2019. He is best remembered internationally for his 11-second knockout of fellow South African Siboniso Gonya in Belfast in November 2017, setting the record for the fastest stoppage in a world title fight.

“Zolani Tete was a two-division world champion. In 2014 he went to Kobe in Japan, into a foreign ring in front of a crowd that wanted him beaten, and came home with the IBF junior-bantamweight title. He took the WBO bantamweight title and defended it against the best of his generation, in Belfast, in Yekaterinburg, wherever the fight was put in front of him. And on a November night in 2017 he did something no fighter in the history of the sport had done: he ended a world title fight in eleven seconds. That record still stands. It belongs to the boy from NU 12, Mdantsane,” McKenzie said.

“The World Boxing Organization mourns the tragic passing of former WBO Bantamweight World Champion Zolani ‘Last Born’ Tete,” the organization wrote on social media. “We extend our deepest condolences to his family, friends, loved ones and the entire South African boxing community during this incredibly difficult time.”

Controversy and Planned Comeback

Tete last fought in July 2022, securing a knockout victory over Briton Jason Cunningham in London that was later ruled a no-contest after Tete tested positive for the anabolic steroid stanozolol. The failed test resulted in a four-year suspension from the UK Anti-Doping Agency, which concluded on July 29, 2026.

Following his death, manager Mla Tengimfene confirmed that Tete had been training for a comeback fight, concluding a career record of 29 wins, four losses, and one no-contest across 34 fights, as reported by BBC. “He believed he still had something to give this country,” McKenzie wrote of the athlete in the news release. “He was right, but he will not get the chance now. He, and all of us, have been robbed.”

“You carried this flag into rooms it had no business being in, and you did it once in just eleven seconds,” he concluded. “Your legacy will endure, though without a timer.”