‘Carte Blanche’ producer shot dead

FAMILY and friends of Carte Blanche producer Johann Botha are reeling after he was gunned down at a popular Joburg cultural precinct during a brazen robbery.

Botha was shot and killed at the Zebra Inn restaurant and bar in Maboneng on Wednesday night.

Four armed robbers, one of whom was a woman, stormed the establishment, killing Botha, 53, and his friend, Werner Josef Peherchtold, 76, the owner of the Zebra Inn.

Gauteng police spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Kay Makhubele said there were patrons in the restaurant when the robbery occurred.

“Three men and a woman came into the restaurant and pointed a firearm at the owner (Peherchtold) and his friend (Botha), demanding money,” Makhubele said.

He said the robbers fled the scene with two firearms and an undisclosed amount of cash.

Johann’s older brother, Rudolph, said the family were devastated.

“A lot of people are hurt at the moment. We are shocked by what happened and how it happened. We still don’t know (all the facts). “This is a hell of a loss, part of my life is gone,” said Rudolph, adding that their parents seemed to be taking it quite well, which was surprising for all of the children and grandchildren, but he believed this was because the news hadn’t sunk in yet.

“He (Johann) was an unbelievable person that we are all going to miss,” said Rudolph. He also recounted how, when he went to fetch his brother’s documents in Kensington yesterday morning, a man gave him a bunch of flowers in honour of Johann.

“I have never seen anything like this before,” said Rudolph, also describing his brother as an “extremely honest, loyal person who loved music and people”.

Apart from his duties as a producer, Johann was an opera singer, presenter of 50/50, radio personality and an environmental and investigative television producer. He also worked on KykNet’s Projek Aardwolf.

Executive producer of Carte Blanche, George Mazarakis, said he was shattered. “I am devastated by the loss of Johann.

“He was an extremely experienced and highly respected television producer.

“His death is an immense loss to Carte Blanche and to the television industry as a whole,” Mazarakis said.

Peherchtold, also known as “Swazi Werner”, is survived by his partner, Lucille. She was too distraught to speak. No arrests have been made.

‘Part of my life is gone,’ says brother