A senior South African police officer is lucky to be alive tonight after a brazen assassination attempt that has sent shockwaves through the country's law enforcement community. Sources confirm that Brigadier John Mokoena, head of the elite Hawks unit in Gauteng province, was ambushed by armed gunmen outside his home in Pretoria at approximately 7:45 PM local time. The attack, described by one source as 'military-style', involved multiple shooters armed with high-calibre weapons who opened fire on Mokoena's vehicle as he pulled into his driveway.
Mokoena sustained non-life-threatening injuries, including a gunshot wound to his left shoulder, and is currently in a stable condition at a undisclosed hospital. His driver, Constable Thabo Nkosi, was killed instantly. The assailants fled the scene in a dark-coloured SUV, despite an immediate police response.
No arrests have been made. This attack comes amid a wider crackdown on corruption and organised crime in South Africa, with the Hawks having recently seized assets worth millions and secured convictions against high-profile figures including former police commissioner Bheki Cele. Mokoena himself had received multiple death threats in recent weeks, according to leaked police documents obtained by this reporter.
The documents detail a web of criminal enterprises operating in Gauteng, with links to both local gangsters and international syndicates. Mokoena had been leading a taskforce targeting cash-in-transit heists, a multibillion-rand industry. Police Minister Bheki Cele condemned the attack, calling it 'a direct assault on the state and our efforts to root out corruption'.
But critics argue that the state's failure to protect its own officers undermines such statements. This is not the first such incident. In 2020, Colonel Jack Mmusi was gunned down in his driveway.
No one was ever charged. The question remains: who is pulling the trigger? And how deep does this go?
The hunt for the assassins is underway, but with a force plagued by internal leaks and compromised resources, the outcome is far from certain. For now, Brigadier Mokoena's survival is a small mercy in a country where the thin blue line is under siege from all sides.
