Cape Town - Alleged 28s gang boss Ralph Stanfield has been shot and wounded in Johannesburg, in an incident linked to an escalating underworld war, several sources say.
News24 understands he was targeted as he was driving near a shopping mall.
Police spokesperson Captain Mavela Masondo said: "We can confirm that a male victim was shot and injured during a drive-by shooting in Melrose, and he managed to drive himself to Sandton.
"His identity cannot be confirmed at this stage. Police have launched a manhunt for the suspects. The motive of the shooting is still unknown."
Several sources with knowledge of what happened told News24 that the incident was linked to the underworld.
The shooting comes as an intensifying underworld battle, stemming from ructions involving the nightclub security industry, is playing out in Cape Town.
A newer underworld faction, said to be headed by businessman Nafiz Modack, has been forcefully taking over security at nightclubs from an older underworld faction.
This has led to violence, including several shootings.
Also read: Shifts in South Africa's Underworld
On June 28, two men - one of them a right-hand man to a 27s gang leader - were killed in Pinelands in a shooting said to be linked to an escalating underworld turf war.
Several sources with inside knowledge said two suspects, dressed in black and wearing balaclavas, had opened fire on the two men outside a popular shopping centre in the area late on Wednesday.
It is understood this killing was a revenge attack of sorts.
In June, three men were shot dead in Bishop Lavis.
The triple killing, according to several sources with intimate knowledge of what happened, was linked to an alleged 28s gang boss who has his eye on the drug trade in the city centre.