South African cricket shocked by official’s shooting

A South African cricket club official has died in hospital after being shot in a row over a parking space with a traffic officer.

Luke Fairweather, an official of the Alma Marist Cricket Club and manager of a Western Province junior team, died on Wednesday.

A South African police statement read: ‘It is alleged that the victim was approached by the traffic official for an alleged traffic violation when the altercation ensued.

‘The victim succumbed as a result of his injury after he was admitted to hospital.

‘The traffic official, a 50-year-old male who was admitted to hospital for injuries sustained during the altercation, was arrested on a charge of murder and will make a court appearance in Wynberg once he has been charged.

‘The name of the traffic official cannot be released until he has made a court appearance.’

The shooting cast a pall over South African cricket with the national team’s thrilling final test with world number one side India entering the last day on Thursday.

‘This news defies belief and the cricket fraternity is in deep shock,’ Western Province Cricket Association president Mohamed Ebrahim said in a statement released on Thursday.

‘Luke was a guy who really loved cricket. He gave great service to club cricket in Western Province. It has shocked a lot of people,’ HD Ackerman, a former South Africa test cricketer and a friend of Fairweather, told Reuters on Thursday.

The 49-year-old Fairweather played for Western Province B and was a right-handed batsman.