Suspected drug dealer Brit shot twice in the head on school run in front of terrified children
A SUSPECTED drug dealer Brit has been gunned down on the school run in front of terrified children.
Simon Mather, 46, was shot twice in the head in what seemed to be a professional hit as he dropped off his stepson Quaid, 12.
The dad of three was targeted by the drive-by gunman in a car as he spoke to a teacher outside the school near Cape Town in South Africa.
He was suspected of being a big player in the city’s cocaine trade but had upset gang rivals by trying to muscle in on a lucrative market smuggling abalone marine snails, a £420-a-plate delicacy.
He was also an associate of British businessman John Burns, 50, who nearly died in a car bomb attack in 2019.
Mr Mather grew up in the village of Combs in the Peak District and worked for a kitchen worktops supplier.
But he is thought to have become involved in drugs after moving to Cape Town eight years ago.
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He married a South African, Sianlee Barendse, with whom he had two young children.
A source said: “He crossed the wrong group and they took him out. Life is cheap in South Africa, especially if you fall out with the wrong people.”
His other son, Bruno, 18, who lives in Spain, said: “He had got into a lot of debt. I’m sure his murder has something to do with his money problems.”
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