Pretoria land claim chief reportedly shot dead

"A man who came along shot him and fatally wounded him," Lieutenant-Colonel Katlego Mogale said.

"The suspect searched him and took his firearm and then fled in the man's BMW."

Mogale said the shooting happened on Tuesday and the car was found later that day.

A case of murder has been opened but no arrests have been made.

Massive land claim

She would not confirm reports that the man was self-appointed tribal chief Velaphi Lekhuleni.

Lekhuleni was reportedly claiming 25 000ha of Pretoria for his tribe, the Mhwaduba of the Bakgatla ba Lekhuleni, The Times reported.

According to the report, the land - said to be worth billions - stretched from Cullinan, east of Pretoria, to Moot, and from Kameeldrift in the north to The Willows.

It reportedly included diplomatic properties, the Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research, farms, shopping centres, hospitals, schools, churches, thousands of homes, and part of the Magaliesberg.

Chief director of the Gauteng Land Claims Commission Cindy Benyane told the paper the commission could not make any link between the murder and the land claim, which had reportedly sparked anger among people living in the area and local businesses.