Suspended Crime Intelligence deputy head Major-General Feroz Khan survived an apparent assassination attempt after he was shot in Houghton, Johannesburg, on Sunday night.
Senior police officials were alerted to the incident shortly before midnight after Gauteng Provincial Commissioner Lieutenant-General Tommy Mthombeni received information that Khan had been shot. A high-level police response was immediately activated, with Crime Intelligence, the Hawks and the Provincial Tracker Team dispatched to the scene.
An internal police communication seen by Africa Daily shows that the incident was registered under an official incident report and that senior officers, including district commanders and detectives of brigadier rank and above, were ordered to attend the crime scene urgently.
The circumstances surrounding the shooting remain unclear, and police have yet to reveal the motive behind the attack or whether any suspects have been identified.
The shooting comes at a critical time for Khan, one of the country’s most controversial police generals, who is due to appear before the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Criminality, Political Interference and Corruption in the Criminal Justice System, commonly known as the Madlanga Commission, on Tuesday. The commission has reserved several days for his testimony, describing his evidence as crucial to its investigation.
Khan recently abandoned legal attempts to prevent the commission from accessing data stored on electronic devices seized by authorities and also withdrew an application seeking to testify behind closed doors.
The suspended police general has been implicated in a series of explosive allegations before the commission. Witnesses have linked him to claims of interference in the investigation into the 751kg cocaine seizure in Aeroton, south of Johannesburg, and have accused him of orchestrating disciplinary processes to shield himself from scrutiny. Khan has denied wrongdoing.
In May, Khan was arrested alongside Gauteng Hawks head Major-General Ebrahim Kadwa and Durban businessman Tariq Downes on allegations relating to an illicit precious metals syndicate. He was later released on R20,000 bail, and the criminal case against him is scheduled to resume in the Kempton Park Magistrate’s Court next month.
Khan is also among several senior police officials who have been suspended amid the widening fallout from the Madlanga Commission’s investigations into allegations of corruption and criminal infiltration within law enforcement agencies.
Sunday night’s shooting is likely to intensify concerns over the safety of individuals linked to the commission, particularly as its investigations continue to expose allegations of deep-rooted criminal networks within the country’s security establishment.
Police are expected to provide further details once preliminary investigations have been concluded.
This is a developing story.
