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Ex-world champion boxer Zolani Tete has been shot dead outside his home in South Africa at the age of 38.

This ugly development happened in Mdantsane, Eastern Cape, as Zolani Tete arrived at his residence and waited for the gate to open.

According to the police, two armed men wearing balaclavas stepped out of a vehicle and opened fire on the boxer.

A 27-year-old woman who was travelling with Tete was also shot several times and taken to hospital for treatment.

South Africa’s Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture, Gayton McKenzie, confirmed Tete’s death on Friday.

McKenzie expressed caution over speculation about the motive behind the attack, saying “I will not speculate about who did this or why.”

Police have launched an investigation, but no motive has been established and no details about possible suspects have been released.

Zolani Tete , who was nicknamed “Last Born”, became widely known in boxing for his remarkable 11-second knockout of fellow South African Siboniso Gonya in Belfast in November 2017.

The knockout remains one of the fastest stoppages in a world title fight.

Tete achieved it while defending his WBO bantamweight title, which he had won earlier that year and held until 2019.

The southpaw boxer had previously captured the IBF junior-bantamweight title in 2014 after defeating Japan’s Teiru Kinoshita in Kobe.

Earlier in his career, Tete had also held the minor WBF flyweight title.

Zolani Tete’s death came only weeks after he completed a four-year ban from boxing following a positive test for the banned anabolic steroid stanozolol after his 2022 bout against Jason Cunningham.

His suspension ended on July 29, and he had been preparing to make a return to professional boxing before his death.

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A US-based election observation group – International Republican Institute (IRI), has said that insecurity and political violence have been observed as major threats to the forthcoming 2027 general elections.

Speaking Friday in Abuja on what it tagged, ‘Media Advisory’, the group led by its President, Dr Daniel Twining alongside Former US Ambassador to South Africa, Jendayi Frazer and the Regional Director for Africa, IRI, Janai Cox, called on political leaders and parties to shun rhetoric that threatens opponents, incites violence or portrays electoral defeat as inherently illegitimate.

Worried that persistent insecurity and political violence, erode confidence in the electoral process and depresses voters’ participation, the group held that where voters, candidates and observers cannot participate without fear of violence or intimidation, technical improvements and legal safeguards have only limited effect.

“This challenge is unfolding within a political landscape that has transformed considerably since 2023”, the group said.

Acknowledging existence of electoral reforms, IRI is skeptical about the practicability of the new legal framework as public confidence remains one of the most consequential challenges facing the process.

Stressing that its mission in Nigeria is to provide an independent and impartial assessment of the country’s electoral processes, offering key findings and recommendations that will help stakeholders strengthen electoral process ahead of the 2027 general elections, it said the country’s experience of 2023 has continued to shape perceptions of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), particularly with respect to results, transmission and collation.

It held that in the 2027 outing, electoral credibility will depend not only on administrative capacity but also on the transparency of institutional authority.

Twining in his remarks, said that IRI’s interest is to support Nigerians in their ambition of peacefully exercising their democratic rights and their democratic voice in an election that is peaceful, inclusive, credible and seen as legitimate in the eyes of the public.”

He described the 2027 elections as critical, not only for the country but also for Africa considering that its political trajectory carries significance beyond its borders.

“The resilience of Nigeria’s institutions and the quality of electoral competition carry not only national but also regional and global implications.

“Our delegation approached this assessment with a straightforward objective to identify practical steps that can strengthen confidence in Nigeria’s electoral process well before voters go to the polls in 2027.

“Over the course of the mission, we met with more than 65 stakeholders, whom we thank for their cooperation and insights. Our findings also draw on IRI’s observation of the Ekiti and Osun off cycle gubernatorial elections, and the work of long-term analysts deployed in the advance of this delegation.”

Adding: “These findings are therefore not abstract prescriptions. They reflect concerns raised across the electoral landscape and lessons drawn from previous elections. At the heart of these recommendations is public confidence. Credibility is not produced by law, technology or institutions alone. It is built when Nigerians believe they can vote without fear, that their choice will be respected and that power cannot be used to override the will of the voter”, the institute said.

Ahead of the 2027 election, the group therefore urged INEC to run a robust stress test of its systems and mock elections to troubleshoot potential challenges with the BVAS and IREv; communicate operational decisions, procedural changes and contingency measures through consistent and authoritative channels and collaborate with security personnel to protect ballot secrecy on election day.

“INEC and security agencies should prioritize the security of election facilities, protect participants, materials, party agents and observer groups without restricting lawful access. Attention should be given to preventing intimidation and securing the movement of results at collation centers.”

The group also recommended that political parties should hold their party officials, agents and supporters accountable for vote buying and voter inducement while national and state leadership should communicate clear expectations throughout party structures and ensure they are enforced down to local and polling unit levels, including sanctions, fines and prosecution of civil and criminal offenses.

“Significant enforcement actions would help demonstrate that electoral offenses, especially violence are unacceptable at all levels. Political parties should train and supervise their party agents on lawful conduct, ballot secrecy and results verification. Political parties should take responsibility for the conduct of their agents and promptly address violations committed on election day.

“INEC should improve the accessibility of polling units for persons with disabilities and build on lessons learnt from the 2023 elections by updating the Internally Displaced Persons voting framework.

“Political parties and candidates should also refrain from producing or amplifying false information, manipulated electoral materials or Artificial Intelligence (AI) generated impersonations that could undermine confidence or inflame tensions”, it said.

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Ahead of the 2027 general elections, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Barr. Nyesom Wike, has charged political stakeholders supporting President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to work for his victory at the ward, local government and state levels, insisting that “every politics is local.”

Wike gave the charge on Saturday while speaking with journalists during an inspection of ongoing projects in Abuja, where he also explained why he would not seek the position of Director-General of the APC Presidential Campaign Council.

The minister said supporters of the President should focus less on campaign titles and positions and more on delivering electoral victories in their respective political bases.

“Every politics is local. If you cannot deliver the president in your state, how will you say you want an election? If you lose your own state, even if you’re DG, you’ll be ashamed,” Wike said.

He added: “What’s important is that you are able to deliver those two states? So it’s not about being DG. If you’re DG and you don’t win your state, what’s the essence of the DG?”

Wike said he would rather concentrate on his political base than seek a prominent position in the presidential campaign structure, recalling that some politicians who previously served as campaign directors-general failed to deliver their home states to their candidates.

He cited former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi; former Senate President, Bukola Saraki; former Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal; and former Plateau State Governor, Simon Lalong, among others.

“I don’t want to lose my state! I will be in my state. I have two states: FCT and my state,” he said.

The FCT minister, who reiterated that he is not a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), said his support for President Tinubu would not necessarily require membership of the APC Presidential Campaign Council.

According to him, political forces that supported Tinubu in the 2023 presidential election operated through what he described as a “Rainbow Coalition” across different states.

“We don’t need to be members of the APC Presidential Campaign Council. We are doing our own work,” he said.

Wike said the same coalition of political interests would play a role in the 2027 elections, noting that political arrangements would vary from state to state.

The minister also said the infrastructure projects being executed across the FCT were themselves evidence of the performance of the Tinubu administration and would constitute a strong campaign message ahead of 2027.

“When people have asked me about campaign, I say, ‘What is campaign? See the campaign!’ Campaign is what have you done for the people? What has the government got to show?” Wike said.

“It’s not about promises; it’s about really putting in action that things indeed will have a positive impact in the lives of the people.”

Wike spoke while inspecting the Apo-Karshi Road and the 14-kilometre dualisation of the Buhari-Kubwa Satellite Town access road.

He described the Apo-Karshi Road as a long-standing project inherited by the present administration, explaining that the contract was originally awarded in 2010.

According to him, the FCT Administration terminated the previous contract because of the importance of the road and complaints from residents before awarding it to SCC.

“The Apo-Karshi road has been a topical issue. That was a road that was awarded in 2010 as one of those projects that Mr. President inherited,” he said.

Wike expressed satisfaction with the progress of work by SCC and said the contractor had indicated that the project would be completed by November.

He also commended the company for sustaining work despite payment challenges, saying the contractor had demonstrated confidence in the administration’s commitment to fulfilling its obligations.

On the Bwari-Kubwa road, Wike said the 14-kilometre dualisation was another major infrastructure intervention designed to improve connectivity and economic activities in the satellite towns.

“Here we are, it’s Bwari to Kubwa. The dualisation of the satellite town access road, 14 kilometres. I don’t think the people of this area ever dreamed that there’ll be a road here to Kubwa. Again, it’s part of the Renewed Hope Agenda,” he said.

Wike said the FCT Administration was targeting the completion and commissioning of several major projects before the 2027 elections.

He disclosed that although he had earlier promised 10 projects, the number could increase because of the pace of work on several ongoing projects.

“Before the election, I gave 10 projects that we commissioned. If care is not taken, it may be more than 10 projects that are very impactful to the economic activities and the lives of the residents of these cities,” he said.

The minister expressed satisfaction with the progress of work across the inspected sites, saying the administration was determined to ensure that promises made to residents were translated into tangible projects.