DJ Warras Murder Sparks Outcry as Police Launch Manhunt

A fatal midday shooting outside one of Johannesburg’s busiest landmarks has put the spotlight back on security in the city’s Central Business District and the risks tied to “hijacked” buildings. 

Warrick Robert Stock, 40, popularly known as DJ Warras, was shot dead shortly after noon on Tuesday after leaving Zambezi House, a building opposite the Carlton Centre in the Johannesburg city centre.

Stock was a popular radio presenter, first on youth station YFM and later on national broadcaster 5FM. He also co-hosted television music shows, appeared on various podcasts, and was a familiar voice on online radio station CliffCentral. He also had business interests in security and property.

The South African Police Service said, “It is alleged the victim [Stock] was approached by three unknown suspects ... they opened fire at him before fleeing the scene on foot.” Police said the motive was unknown and no arrests had been made as the investigation continued. Gauteng acting provincial commissioner Major General Fred Kekana said CCTV footage shows a short man with dreadlocks approaching Stock and firing at close range before fleeing. It also shows a second suspect, dressed in a security uniform, near Stock’s vehicle. Kekana said nothing was taken from Stock and police are tracing the suspects and the murder weapon.

Colleagues say Stock was inspecting Zambezi House, a partially hijacked building, at the time of his death. City officials have since said the building’s owner had independently brought in Stock’s private security company, Imperium Security, to secure the premises and help with rent collection, and that Stock had been discussing access-control measures for the site. 

Stock is survived by his three young children, and his family has requested privacy while urging support for the police investigation.

Several tributes have been made to Stock.

Minister of Sports, Arts, and Culture, Gayton McKenzie, said: “He was widely regarded as a mentor and supporter of emerging creatives, always willing to open doors and encourage new voices.”

ActionSA leader and former Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba, who had worked with Stock on inner-city anti-crime initiatives, denounced the murder as a “chilling reflection of South Africa’s spiralling violent crime” and a targeted attack on those fighting lawlessness. “If the thugs behind his assassination believe they have stopped the fight to reclaim Johannesburg’s inner city, they are gravely mistaken,” Mashaba said, vowing that efforts to restore order would continue.

The Democratic Alliance’s Gauteng community safety spokesperson, Crezane Bosch, also expressed alarm, calling Stock’s killing “a devastating loss” and evidence of “how shockingly easy it is to take a human life in broad daylight without fear of accountability”. Bosch urged authorities to act swiftly, stating that “no family should have to bury a loved one because crime has been allowed to spiral out of control”.