By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Deputy crime intelligence boss Maj-Gen Feroz Khan has been the target of a shooting in Johannesburg, which police are investigating as an attempted assassination.
Khan was shot on Sunday evening as he was driving home and has since been rushed to hospital for emergency surgery.
The shooting comes just days before Khan was due to appear before the Madlanga Commmision of inquiry set up to investigate criminality in the justice system.
South African Police Services (SAPS) National Spokesperson Brig Athlenda Mathe said in a statement released on Monday that police were investigating.
“It is premature and irresponsible to speculate on any possible motive or to conclude that the incident is linked to his anticipated appearance before the [inquiry]”, she said.
Khan, and two other people, were arrested last month for illegal dealing in, and unlawful possession of, precious metals.
This stems from a 2021 incident when a businessman was found with unwrought gold weighing 75.9g (2.7 oz) at Johannesburg’s OR Tambo international airport.
The acting national police commissioner, Lieutenant-General Puleng Dimpane, directed the Political Killings Task Team (PKTT) to join the investigation “to ensure that every possible lead is pursued and that those responsible are brought to book”.
Dimpane also condemned the attack and assured the public that “no resource will be spared in identifying, tracing and arresting those responsible”.
The SAPS pointed out that Khan was expected to testify before the Commission this week, on 1 July.
Some witnesses testifying before the Commission have applied to do so under pseudonyms and without showing their faces, due to security concerns.
Marius van der Merwe, who was a witness before the commission and who testified under the alias Witness D, was murdered in Brakpan in December last year.
SAPS said it viewed “any attempt to intimidate, silence or attack any individual involved in judicial processes in the most serious light” and warned against attempts to interfere with the administration of justice.