Three suspects have been arrested in connection with the murder of well-known Cape Town lawyer David Mbazwana, Western Cape police said on Thursday

Spokesperson Captain FC Van Wyk said a firearm with its serial number removed and loaded with 12 rounds, as well as different calibre bullets and drugs were seized during the arrests. 

Police also confiscated 36 mandrax tablets and seven packets of tik.

The arrests were carried out by the Anti-Gang Unit, following Mbazwana's murder on Sunday. 

The 38-year-old attorney was shot in Eiland informal settlement in Khayelitsha. He died on the way to hospital. 

"The three suspects, aged 24, 30, 35 respectively are due to appear in Khayelitsha Magistrate's Court once charged," said Van Wyk.

In addition to a murder charge, two will face charges of possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition and drugs, while the other is facing a charge of possession of ammunition and drugs. 

Van Wyk conveyed Western Cape Provincial Commission Lieutenant General Khombinkosi Jula's gratitude towards the officers who made the breakthrough.

Mbazwana previously represented a security company boss and bouncer accused of having links to the criminal underworld. "He was shot in front of a spaza shop in Khayelitsha in the presence of his sister in an apparent robbery," a source told News24 on Sunday, the day Mbazwana was killed.

His client list ranged from security company owners to people accused of murder.

He was a specialist litigator at the company Liddell, Weeber and Van der Merwe Incorporated.

According to the company's website, Mbazwana completed his law degree at the University of the Western Cape and his articles at the Legal Aid Board.

He was also admitted as an advocate of the High Court of South Africa.

He had worked as a prosecutor in the Cape Town Magistrate's Court from 2006 to 2008.

He was also admitted as a practising attorney.

Mbazwana is the second well- known Cape Town lawyer killed in the past seven months - famed criminal lawyer Pete Mihalik was gunned down on October 30 while on a school run.