Cape Town alleged underworld boss Cyril Beeka was feared murdered in a driveby hit in the city.

However, police would not confirm the identity of the 49-year-old man gunned down by a motorcyclist on Modderdam Road, Bellville South, at 5pm.

"I am not going to give out identities," Captain Joe Wilson said from the scene after 9pm.

He said two men were travelling west in a silver BMW when a motorcyclist pulled up alongside them just past the entrance to the University of the Western Cape.

The motorcyclist fired several shots at the men in the car.

"The driver lost control of the vehicle," said Wilson. It crashed through the university's fence.

The 36-year-old man driving the car was in a serious condition in hospital.

Wilson would not reveal which hospital or how many gunshot wounds he sustained, only that he was wounded in his upper body.

"The 49-year-old male died on the scene," he said.

That man was believed to be Beeka.

In 1999, Beeka appeared in court accused of murder. At the time, he was alleged to be a key figure behind protection rackets in Cape Town's clubland.

He also reportedly had National Intelligence Agency (NIA) links and was an informer for the ANC's armed wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe.

Beeka accompanied intelligence boss Mo Shaik to the 2007 ANC elective conference in Polokwane as a minder.

Last year, The Star reported that Beeka saw the prime suspect in the murder of Lolly Jackson on the night he was murdered.

On Monday, Wilson said the motive for the attack was not known, but that the police would investigate the possibility that it was a hit.

"At this stage, we don't have sufficient evidence to say that," he said.

Wilson said it was difficult to determine at this stage what weapon was used in the attack and it was also difficult to tell how many spent cartridges were on the scene as it became dark soon after the shooting.

No arrests had been made.