By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
A shooting at Solo, a popular restaurant in Sandton, claimed three lives and left four people wounded on Thursday night.
Fullview learnt popular businessman Sphamandla Mabonga, who is the ex-lover of reality star and singer Londie London, was among those killed in a shootout.
He was rushed to hospital but succumbed to his injuries.
Gauteng police spokesperson Colonel Dimakatso Nevhuhulwi confirmed the shooting.
“It is reported that a man with a firearm wanted to enter the restaurant, which has a no firearm policy, and that is when the altercation started, leading to a shooting between the man’s bodyguards and security guards,” Nevhuhulwi said.
Nevhuhulwi added that two of the bodyguards were declared dead on the scene.
Five people – the man at the centre of the confrontation, a community policing forum member, two restaurant patrons, and a security guard – were taken to hospital.
But the man later died, Nevhuhulwi added.
Nevhuhulwi said preliminary investigations revealed that the man had a prior brush with the law. He was arrested for a similar shooting incident in Sandton last year.
Currently no one has been arrested, and police investigations continue,” she said.
In March 2024, Mabonga was detained on suspicion of starting a fight with the nightclub’s security guards in the Johannesburg suburb of Sunninghill.