Ex-magistrate killed in apparent hijacking in Cape Town

A former Mitchells Plain magistrate, who was sentenced in 2004 for shooting a motorist to death, was shot dead himself in an apparent hijacking this week.

Sithembele Elvis Tebe, 49, was killed at his home in Frederick Street, Kuils River.

Western Cape police spokesperson Captain FC van Wyk said they attended to a hijacking complaint, and on arrival, found Tebe had been shot and killed.

“According to reports, the suspect fled with the deceased’s vehicle, a black Tata, with registration number CA 769383.”

No one has been arrested.

Tebe was sentenced to an effective 10 years for shooting dead motorist Bongani Pendula in Khayelitsha in a road rage incident in 2002.

Weekend Argus reported that in 2012, Tebe had applied to be admitted as an advocate.

His death follows an attack on Cape Town civil attorney Jakes van der Merwe in his car on Wednesday.

The police have yet to arrest the person who shot the 53-year-old in Constantia Road, Gardens, at around 07.50am.

It is understood a vehicle had pulled up next to Van der Merwe’s Toyota Land Cruiser and fired two shots, wounding him in the neck.

A colleague, who did not want to be named, told News24 on Wednesday: “He’s doing OK.”

At the crime scene, a bullet hole could be seen on the driver’s side window of the grey Land Cruiser and another on the metal panel between the driver and passenger windows.

In December, Cape Town advocate Vernon Jantjies was shot dead in an apparent hit at a petrol station in Mitchells Plain.

The murder followed those of prominent Cape Town advocate Pete Mihalik and attorney Noorudien Hassan.

Hassan, who was linked to some of the province’s most high-profile gang cases, was shot in his car outside his home in Lansdowne on November 7, 2016.

Mihalik, who worked closely with Hassan, was shot dead while dropping his children at Reddam House Atlantic Seaboard School in Green Point on October 30, 2018.

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