The many mysteries surrounding high-flying Feroz Khan

Maj-Gen Feroz Khan is no ordinary cop. He is a powerful, controversial spy boss who moves in South Africa’s elite political circles and has been linked to the country’s criminal underworld and tobacco barons. He also has a penchant for multimillion-rand supercars.

So it has come as little surprise that the 35-year SAPS veteran has emerged as a central figure in the explosive revelations before the Madlanga commission. Evidence paints a damning picture of law-enforcement agencies infiltrated by criminal networks, manipulated by political interests and hollowed out by endemic corruption.

Little is known about Khan’s background. Even basic biographical details such as where he was born and where he grew up remain obscure. The limited information available publicly suggests he joined police intelligence structures as a constable in September 1991.

Over the next decade, he rose steadily through the ranks, securing various promotions before reaching the rank of captain in 2001. By 2010, he was a colonel. Over the next seven years, he supervised and directed a network of intelligence operatives within the crime intelligence division.

Even basic biographical details such as where he was born and where he grew up remain obscure

He was thrust into the spotlight in 2017 when his bosses controversially handed him a double promotion, catapulting him from colonel to major-general, bypassing the rank of brigadier. While such promotions are possible within the police hierarchy, they are rare and generally reserved for exceptional cases. Khan’s rapid ascent was therefore highly unusual, setting him apart from his peers and prompting questions about what justified his extraordinary treatment.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a senior police officer at the time described Khan’s promotion as “illegal and irregular”. Then police minister Fikile Mbalula was enraged by Khan’s promotion and promptly demanded its reversal. But Khan remained in his position. No-one appeared to have the appetite to undo the controversial promotion.

Another controversy erupted at about the same time when the media revealed Khan had allegedly spent two decades working without the security clearance required for his position — a startling situation that meant he had access to highly sensitive intelligence despite not having undergone the necessary vetting processes.

He was also accused of operating a multimillion-rand motor spares company, Spares Oasis, while serving in the police. The business allegedly generated a monthly income of more than R250,000, yet Khan allegedly had not been given permission to undertake remunerative work outside the service. The allegations fuelled concerns about a conflict of interest and whether senior officials had turned a blind eye to his activities.

Khan, a teetotaller who doesn’t smoke and is a devout Muslim, lives in the Johannesburg suburb of Houghton, one of Johannesburg’s most exclusive suburbs.

In March, while giving testimony before parliament’s ad hoc committee investigating allegations that the country’s law-enforcement agencies have been captured by criminal syndicates and networks, KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi described Khan as “one of the richest generals in the SAPS”.

Following his promotion, Khan headed security and counterintelligence from 2017 to 2019. This powerful police unit is responsible for vetting personnel and issuing security-clearance certificates across the service. In 2020, he was appointed to act as crime intelligence’s divisional commissioner after the unit’s chief, Peter Jacobs, was suspended.

In July 2023, Khan, second-in-command at crime intelligence, was in the spotlight again. He drew public attention when he was spotted at an EFF fundraising gala dinner at Emperors Palace in Kempton Park, where he shared a table with Adriano Mazzotti, the reclusive but exceedingly wealthy tobacco baron known to be an EFF benefactor.

The table was allegedly paid for by Mohammadh Sayed, Mazzotti’s business partner, who has been described as Khan’s “friend”. Khan has said he attended the event, at which the EFF celebrated its 10th anniversary, to undertake legitimate intelligence work.

Evidence presented to the Madlanga commission alleges a longstanding relationship and regular communication between Khan and EFF leader Julius Malema. Several media outlets have reported that Malema once described Khan as a “long-time acquaintance” dating back to their ANC days.

In October 2024, Khan’s bosses hauled him before a disciplinary hearing on a series of misconduct charges in connection with his alleged interference with a crime scene in which officers had seized a multimillion-rand cocaine consignment in Aeroton, Johannesburg.

According to police, Khan arrived at the scene and assumed control of the investigation, despite lacking the authority to do so. In the process, he interfered with the collecting and handling of evidence, thereby compromising the operation. Mkhwanazi, who chaired the hearing, cleared Khan of all charges, saying there was insufficient evidence to convict him.

The Madlanga commission has spent a considerable amount of time grilling several witnesses, many of them police officers, about the Aeroton cocaine bust.

Despite Khan’s acquittal at his disciplinary hearing, witnesses told the commission that, as an intelligence officer, his presence at the scene was inappropriate. They claimed he was not there to do legitimate police work, insisting he came to disrupt their investigation and defeat the ends of justice.

Suspended national police commissioner Fannie Masemola initiated an internal investigation into Khan’s conduct at the Aeroton crime scene.

On the morning of May 10, South Africans awoke to news that the political killings task team, a crack squad of veteran detectives formed to hunt down the masterminds and hitmen behind South Africa’s wave of political assassinations, had arrested Khan at his apartment in Houghton. They seized his electronic devices and handed them to the Madlanga commission. He appeared in court the next day and was released on R20,000 bail.

The arrest stemmed from a 2021 incident in which Durban-based businessman Tariq Downes was found in possession of 75.9g of unwrought gold valued at about R62,836.

During questioning, Downes told police officers he was an undercover agent and that Khan and Gauteng Hawks boss Maj-Gen Ebrahim Kadwa could vouch for him. When contacted by investigators, both Khan and Kadwa confirmed Downes’s version of events and instructed that he be released immediately.

On the strength of Khan and Kadwa’s representations, the National Prosecuting Authority decided not to charge Downes. However, prosecutors later revisited the matter and moved to charge Khan and Kadwa, saying they falsely told officers Downes was involved in a lawful undercover police operation in a bid to obstruct justice.

Shortly after his arrest, Kahn was placed on suspension.

About a month ago, the Madlanga commission summonsed Khan to appear before it on July 1 to discuss a variety of issues, including his relationship with Malema, Sayed and others. On the night of June 28, Khan was shot twice in an alleged assassination attempt in Houghton. He remains in a critical condition at Netcare Milpark Hospital.

Whether Khan will still take the stand at the Madlanga commission remains to be seen.

While circumstances surrounding the armed attack, in which he was shot twice in the abdomen, are still unclear, the Sunday Times has been told the matter is being investigated by Gauteng police detective services working with the Hawks and Gauteng crime intelligence.

A person with knowledge of the incident and the investigation said police were still scrutinising CCTV footage from around the area and could not rely on technology for reading registration plates because the vehicle used by Khan’s assailants did not have any fitted to it.

The source added that the footage showed Khan’s assailants followed him for some distance from his attorneys’ offices, where he had been consulting with them. “What is baffling me is how Khan, being someone who is very security-conscious, could have [failed to notice] that a car with no plates was following him.”