Crime intelligence boss Major-General Feroz Khan was shot in an apparent assassination attempt on Sunday evening, 28 June 2026, while driving along 3rd Avenue in Houghton, Johannesburg.
Khan, the suspended deputy head of the South African Police Service crime intelligence division, was rushed to hospital and underwent emergency surgery, as reported by News24.
Gunmen travelling in a white Mercedes-Benz opened fire on his vehicle, striking him in the lower body before fleeing the scene.
How Feroz Khan was shot in Houghton
The attack happened on Sunday evening, 28 June 2026, as Khan drove home through the suburb of Houghton.
Police said the gunmen ambushed his car and escaped, leaving him wounded in the lower body. He was stable enough to be taken for surgery, which he survived.
The Gauteng Hawks, Gauteng crime intelligence and the SAPS detective service are investigating. Authorities urged the public not to jump to conclusions about the motive, saying it would be “premature and irresponsible” to link the shooting to any single matter before evidence is gathered and assessed.
Why the timing of the Feroz Khan shooting matters
The shooting came days before Khan was due to testify at the Madlanga Commission on Wednesday, 1 July 2026. After several attempts to avoid appearing, he was expected to answer questions about alleged links to suspected underworld figure Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala.
The allegations against Khan remain untested.
Khan had reportedly warned that information on his phones could put lives at risk, raising the stakes around his expected testimony.
He was suspended from his post earlier, and his appearance was seen as a key moment in the commission’s work on alleged criminal networks within policing.
The Madlanga Commission is examining allegations of corruption and criminal infiltration in South Africa’s law enforcement structures. Testimony from senior figures like Khan has been central to its inquiry, which has drawn steady public attention as it works through claims about politically connected syndicates and police officials.
Attacks on senior police and intelligence officials have become a grave concern in South Africa, where investigators probing organised crime have faced threats.
The shooting of a figure as senior as Khan, on a quiet Houghton street, has sharpened questions about the safety of those tied to high-profile cases.
What happens next rests on Khan’s recovery and whether he is well enough to appear before the commission as scheduled.
Investigators are working to trace the gunmen and the white Mercedes-Benz, while the question of whether the hearing proceeds on Wednesday, 1 July 2026, now hangs over the inquiry.
