South African boxing has lost one of its finest. Former world champion Zolani Tete was gunned down outside his own home on Friday night.

Terrible news from the Eastern Cape. Former world champion Zolani Last Born Tete, aged 38, was shot dead as he arrived at his residence in Mdantsane township on Friday.

cbinews.tv reports that police and the sports minister confirmed that two armed men wearing balaclavas got out of a vehicle and opened fire.

A 27 year old woman travelling with him was hit multiple times and taken to hospital. Police say investigations have started and motive remains unclear.

This killing will once again put a spotlight on violent crime in South Africa. The country still records one of the highest murder rates in the world. Official data shows more than 27,000 murders in the past year, around 75 a day, even though homicides have dipped slightly from recent peaks. For many in Mdantsane, the pain cuts deeper.

Mdantsane has long been known as the home of boxing in South Africa. The township outside East London has produced legends like Welcome Ncita, Vuyani Bungu and Noni Tenge. Tete was part of that proud lineage.

On the global stage, Tete made history. He won the IBF junior bantamweight world title in 2014 after beating Japans Teiru Kinoshita in Kobe. He later claimed the WBO bantamweight crown and defended it with real authority.

Most fans remember him for that outrageous 11 second knockout of fellow South African Siboniso Gonya in Belfast in November 2017, still recognised as the fastest stoppage ever in a world title fight.

From small hall shows in the Eastern Cape to world title nights in Japan and Northern Ireland, Tete carried Mdantsane with him. His death is a huge loss to South African sport.

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