Online Reporter
JOHANNESBURG. – The murder of former world boxing champion Zolani Tete was meticulously planned, with the alleged mastermind even going as far as hiring a middleman to recruit two hitmen to ambush the star at his own gate.
That is the State’s case against the four men who appeared in the Mdantsane Magistrate’s Court yesterday for Tete’s murder and the attempted murder of his girlfriend.
Tete, 38, was shot in NU17, Mdantsane, as he waited for his gate to open at about 6.30 pm on Friday.
He drove into the yard in an attempt to escape the gunfire but died at the scene.
His 27-year-old girlfriend, who was in the passenger seat, was shot several times and remained in hospital.
State alleges hit was planned
National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Luxolo Tyali said the alleged hitmen were Siphesihle Kolisa, 28, and Athandwa Gangala, 27, and that Sinebongo Qase, 28, allegedly acted as the middleman.
Tyali said: “The State alleges that the murder was premeditated and that the matter falls under the ambit of Schedule 6 of the Criminal Procedure Act.
“Given the seriousness of the charges, the prosecution will vigorously oppose the granting of bail.”
Schedule 6 is the highest bail category, meaning the four accused will have to prove to the magistrate that exceptional circumstances justify their release.
Tyali said Goqwana was arrested on Saturday, Kolisa and Gangala at Scenery Park in KuGompo City on Sunday, and Qase on Monday.
Police recovered firearms and ammunition when they arrested Kolisa and Gangala.
Two accused named as alleged hitmen
The two appeared in the KuGompo Magistrate’s Court on charges of unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition on Monday.
They have abandoned their bail applications.
Goqwana and Qase are expected back in the Mdantsane Magistrate’s Court for a formal bail application next week Tuesday.
Goqwana, who is wheelchair-bound, was wheeled into court for the first time on Monday wearing a white T-shirt with the word “Capone” across the chest and a khaki jacket folded over his lap.
Tyali said he was being held in the medical ward of the West Bank Correctional Centre in KuGompo City.
Police spokeswoman Brigadier Nobuntu Gantana said a 30-year-old man arrested on Saturday had been released and remained a potential witness.
Tete, who grew up in Mdantsane and boxed as “Last Born”, won his first major world title in 2014 when he beat Japan’s Teiru Kinoshita in Kobe for the vacant International Boxing Federation junior-bantamweight belt.
Four suspects face Schedule 6 murder charge
He became a two-division world champion in 2017 when he won the World Boxing Organization (WBO) bantamweight title, which he held until Filipino John Riel Casimero took it off him in 2019.
Tete held the Guinness World Records for the fastest knockout in a world title fight, stopping fellow South African Siboniso Gonya in 11 seconds in Belfast in November 2017.
He was killed weeks after a four-year doping ban ended on July 29, and was preparing to fight again.
A memorial service for Tete will be held at the Orient Theatre in KuGompo City on Wednesday, a notice issued on behalf of his family and Boxing SA said.
His funeral will be held in Mdantsane on Saturday. – IOL
