The legal team representing the suspended crime intelligence head Feroz Khan has invited the Madlanga Commission to verify his condition in hospital, following claims that he falsified his attempted assassination to avoid testifying in person.
Khan was shot with a hail of bullets on Sunday outside his Houghton residence and received emergency surgery at Milpark Hospital. He was due to appear before the commission on Wednesday 1 July to respond to numerous allegations regarding the 2021 Aeoton drug bust and information leaks to Brown Mogotsi.
He is currently out on R20 000 bail in a separate case where he was charged with running an illicit precious mineral syndicate alongside Gauteng Hawks head Ebrahim Kadwa.
Appearing before the commission, Khan's counsel, Advocate Zubair Khan, said Khan was unconscious and sedated and that they have not been able to get access to him for purposes of further instructions.
"There are allegations in the media and on social media that this was a contrived shooting and that General Khan is lying comfortably in hospital eating jelly," he said. "The family has asked that we invite the chairperson or the commissioners to visit him in hospital, speak to his medical team and satisfy themselves that he is in an extremely critical condition."
The legal team submitted a J88 medical report to support its claim that Khan remains in a critical condition. Referring to speculation surrounding the shooting in which Khan was injured, counsel rejected suggestions that the incident had been staged.
"Both my attorney and I have seen General Khan. He is not verbal at the moment. He is sedated. He has tubes coming out of his mouth and abdomen. His doctors have restricted the number of visitors he can receive. I have brought photographic evidence for the commissioners and again invite them to satisfy themselves as to his condition," he said.
Khan’s lawyers previously made an application to the commission for a limit on which evidence should be in person and which evidence should be in-camera. They indicated that certain evidence concerned state security and intelligence.
Commission chairperson Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga asked whether Khan was seeking permission to limit his testimony to the 2021 Aeroton drug bust. Khan has been accused of leaking intelligence information to Mogotsi, who passed it along to Vusimusizi “Cat” Matlala.
Counsel said Khan's medical condition had made it impossible to obtain further instructions or to file a supplementary application dealing with the request for closed proceedings.
Madlanga asked the legal team to identify which aspects of the evidence it considered confidential and unsuitable for public testimony.
Counsel said he could not indicate when a supplementary affidavit on the in-camera application would be filed because Khan's condition remained uncertain and would also affect his ability to appear before the commission.