Cape Town — Police are investigating a case of attempted murder after the lead investigator in the Zandile Gumede case survived an alleged assassination attempt, eNCA reports. The officer was leaving his home in Germiston, east of Johannesburg, last Friday, when a lone gunman approached him and fired three times, hitting him in the shoulder.

Brigadier Hangwani Malaudzi, spokesperson for the Hawks police unit, confirmed the incident and that the officer was taken to hospital. Malaudzi added that the security surrounding the task team assigned to the Gumede case will be heightened, writes IOL. Speaking to the SABC, Malaudzi said: "The case itself is still under investigation we don't know the motive but we have taken serious exception to this incident."

According to The Citizen, Gumede is due to appear before the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court in Durban. She was forced to take leave by the ANC's provincial executive committee, led by chairperson Sihle Zikalala, after her arrest and subsequent release on R50 000 bail. She, along with eThekwini infrastructure portfolio committee chairperson Mondli Mthembu and businessman Craig Ponnan, faces charges over an alleged tender of R208 million in the Durban Solid Waste department.