Money motive claimed in 2 hit-style murders in Johannesburg

Two brazen shootings in full view of the public in busy streets of Johannesburg have been linked to a multimillion rand tender deal and a money exchange system that hails from Asia.

Eyewitness News reported on Thursday that a man died after being shot eight times near the Glenhove offramp on the M1 north highway just after 5pm on Wednesday. The report linked him to a Hawala money exchange scheme operating out of the Oriental Plaza. A second person is believed to be in ICU in a hospital.

Eyewitnesses told the radio station that three men walked through rush-hour traffic‚ specifically looking for the white Audi A4‚ shot out the tyres and then opened fire on the occupants several times.

News24‚ meanwhile‚ is reporting that a businessman who was gunned down in an apparent hit in Sandton last year was linked to a R255-million contract from the Free State department of human settlements.

Ignatius "Igo" Mpambani‚ then 37‚ was shot dead in broad daylight in June as he was driving down Sandton's Bowling Avenue in a Bentley worth about R3-million. News24 said it had established that Mpambani was one of the main beneficiaries of a contract to "audit" and "assess" houses with asbestos roofs in the Free State. There was apparently a dispute with a business colleague about some of the money‚ which he had allegedly paid into his own bank account.