South African ex-footballer Batchelor shot dead outside home

Johannesburg (AFP) – Former South African footballer Marc Batchelor was shot dead in an apparent targeted killing on Monday evening as he drove home in Johannesburg, police said.

“He was driving to his house and he was accosted by two guys on a motorcycle,” police spokesman Lungelo Dlamini told AFP.

“They fired shots at him and he died in his vehicle and the suspects drove away without taking anything,” 

“This happened outside his house in Olivedale (northern Johannesburg).”

Police said the motive of the attack was unknown and that no arrests had yet been made.

Local media carried photographs showing his bullet-riddled car window.

Batchelor, 49, played for the South Africa’s two largest rivals teams Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs as well as Mamelodi Sundowns, Moroka Swallows and Supersport United.

He had a long-running feud with Paralympic sprint star Oscar Pistorius who was convicted of murdering Reeva Steenkamp in 2013.

Batchelor claimed the sprinter threatened to break his legs in a dispute over a girlfriend.