The murder of Zimbabwean music promoter Ishmael “Mandebvu” Nkata in Cape Town on Friday night has sparked speculation.
Mandebvu was shot several times and died, and his friends have no idea why he was executed.
Mandebvu had a bar in Cape Town called “The Gardens,” where he occasionally invited Zimbabwean musicians to perform.
The bar was closed after someone was shot inside, but it was recently reopened.
One of the legends going around among his associates is that Mandebvu was warned after one of their coworkers died, he would also be shot within two months.
However, two months passed without any incident.
“The other story is that someone, who was in need of some money, borrowed from Mandebvu and was asked to cede his car registration book as a guarantee,” said a source.
“Later, the same person came back saying while he hadn’t found the money to pay back the debt, he wanted his car registration book back.
“This created some tension and there is a feeling that it led to the horror we saw on Friday night.”
Cape Town is also the setting for some of Africa’s most prominent drug lords, and shootouts are routine.
Statista placed it tenth among the world’s most dangerous cities in 2022, based on the murder rate per 100,000 residents.
Only nine other cities were rated more dangerous than Cape Town, including five in Mexico, two in Brazil, and two in Venezuela.
Tijuana, Mexico, which is home to some of the world’s most powerful drug lords, leads the list.
