According to the communication officer of the Fochville police, Sgt Elsie Tshonte, the incident happened on Thursday, 28 January. A member of a private security company at Harmony Gold’s Kusasalethu Gold Mine left his home in Fochville for work. He approached the T-junction where the Kokosi road joins the N12 at around 05:55. He had seemingly just stopped when someone started shooting at him with a revolver. The attacker or attackers fired several shots before fleeing from the scene. “Motorists driving past saw the vehicle and called the police. They thought it was an accident at first because the car had left the road,” says Tshonte. Soon afterwards, members of the Fochville Community Policing Forum (CPF) from the area arrived at the scene, followed by the police. A Netcare ambulance evacuated the man from the scene. He had been shot in his head, among other places. The police say the victim should have been airlifted, but bad weather prevented the helicopter from landing. Although five shots had hit the man’s silver Nissan Qashqai, no cartridges were found on the scene. “We were informed that the man was busy investigating illegal mining; we believe the attack was linked,” says Tshonte. She says the police have opened an attempted murder case following the incident. 
