Former Bok, Tyibilika shot dead in Cape Town

13 November 2011 - 22:27 By CRAIG RAY
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Solly Tyibilika
Solly Tyibilika

Former Springbok flank Solly Tyibilika is believed to have been shot dead in Cape Town.

Police Captain Frederick van Wyk said that he could not confirm the name of deceased “because the next of kin has not yet been confirmed”.

However a police man based at Nyanga police station confirmed to The Times that it was Tyibilika.

The rugby star was shot dead in a tavern in New Cross Roads, Gugulethu shortly after 2pm yesterday afternoon.

Two men walked into the tavern and began to shoot at patrons at random, said van Wyk.

“They wounded two and fatally wounded a man in his thirties,” said the police spokesman.

Police are still looking for the two gunmen who escaped, one in a sedan taxi, the other on foot in the direction of the KTC informal settlement.

A spokesman for the South African Rugby Union (SARU) said they’d heard the same unconfirmed reports of the incident but had no official word that Tyibilika had been shot dead.

Tyibilika, 32, had been playing for Hamiltons in Green Point this season after his full time professional career fell apart in 2008 following an unhappy stint at the Golden Lions.

Tyibilika played eight tests for the Boks scoring three tries. He made his test debut against Scotland in 2004 and became the first ethnic black player to score a try for the Springboks - additional reporting Harriet McLea

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