One of South Africa’s most senior police officers, suspended Crime Intelligence Major General Feroz Khan, has survived an apparent assassination attempt in Johannesburg, just days before he was due to testify before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry.
Khan was shot on Sunday while driving along 3rd Avenue in Houghton, Johannesburg. He sustained gunshot wounds and was rushed to hospital, where he remains under medical care.
The shooting has triggered a high-level investigation involving the Gauteng Hawks, Gauteng Crime Intelligence, the SAPS Detective Service and the specialised Political Killings Task Team.
Acting National Commissioner Lieutenant General Puleng Dimpane has ordered that maximum resources be deployed to the investigation, warning that any attempt to intimidate or attack individuals involved in judicial or commission processes would be treated with the utmost seriousness.
In a statement, SAPS confirmed that the matter is being treated as a priority case and said investigators would pursue all available leads.
Khan was scheduled to appear before the Madlanga Commission on July 1. The commission is probing wide-ranging allegations of corruption, abuse of intelligence structures and political interference within senior law enforcement ranks.
His impending testimony has intensified public interest in the shooting. However, police have cautioned against speculating about a possible motive.
Authorities said it would be “premature and irresponsible” to link the attack directly to Khan’s upcoming appearance before the commission, stressing that detectives would follow the evidence wherever it leads.
Khan has been identified as one of several key figures expected to provide evidence relating to the commission’s investigation.
He is also one of two senior Muslim Crime Intelligence generals facing separate legal scrutiny. Alongside Major General Ebrahim Kadwa, Khan is implicated in a criminal matter involving allegations that they assisted an alleged fake undercover operative to evade arrest during a gold-related investigation.
Both officers have denied wrongdoing, and the matter remains before the courts.
The shooting has further intensified scrutiny of one of the country’s most closely watched inquiries into policing and intelligence structures, although investigators have not established any connection between the attack and ongoing legal or commission proceedings.
Crime scene investigators have processed the area, collected ballistic evidence and reviewed available surveillance footage in an effort to reconstruct the events leading up to the shooting.
No arrests have been made.
SAPS strongly condemned the attack, with Lieutenant General Dimpane wishing Khan a speedy recovery and extending support to his family.
As investigations continue, questions remain over who targeted Khan and why, at a time when he finds himself at the centre of multiple high-profile legal and commission processes.
Given the sensitivity of the Madlanga Commission and its potential implications for South Africa’s intelligence community, the outcome of the investigation is expected to attract significant national attention.