Former Western Province cricketer dies in parking-ticket brawl

Luke Fairweather, who played twice for Western Province in the apartheid years and was manager of the province's junior team, died after being shot in the stomach during an altercation with a traffic officer. He was 49.

Witnesses said Fairweather got into a row with Ian Sinclair outside Newlands when Sinclair issued a parking ticket to his mother's car. The pair quickly became embroiled in a heated argument and started fighting, and during the struggle Fairweather was shot. Such was the ferocity of the brawl that a car windscreen was smashed when Sinclair was allegedly thrown against it.

Fairweather was rushed to hospital but died a few hours later. Sinclair, who also had to be treated in hospital, was charged with murder and released on bail.

An eyewitness told the Weekend Argus Sinclair had been watching cricket when he spotted the illegally-parked vehicle. "He left the group, went to the motorist and was busy writing her a ticket, when the victim arrived. There was an exchange of words, after which Fairweather got into his vehicle. He was about to reverse, when he stopped the car and got out again."

A police spokesman took up the story. "The woman's son [Fairweather] … started arguing with the traffic officer. He started to push the traffic officer around and assaulted him. He smashed the traffic officer's head into the parked vehicle. The traffic officer warned him to stop. In between the fighting [Fairweather] was shot at several times,"

Fairweather had been a guest in the Western Province Cricket Association president's box during the Test between South Africa and India when the incident occurred. "This news defies belief and the cricket fraternity is in deep shock," WPCA president Mohamed Ebrahim said.