South Africa’s credibility as hosts of the 2010 World Cup was dealt a severe blow yesterday when it emerged that an official who blew the whistle on corruption had been shot dead by masked gunmen.

Jimmy Mohlala, 44, a member of the organising committee for the tournament, was killed late on Sunday at his home in the city of Nelspruit, in the northeastern province of Mpumalanga, which will provide one of the host stadiums. A statement by the local authority said that he was attacked by two unknown men wearing balaclavas, who had been waiting in an unmarked vehicle. Mohlala’s 19-year-old son, who was with him, was also shot in the foot by the assailants, who fled the scene.

South Africa is digesting not only the news of the death of the senior football official, but also the wider implications of a shooting that will feed critics’ warnings that the Government will be unable to guarantee safety and security for the teams, officials and tens of thousands of fans in the country for 2010.

Sepp Blatter, the president of Fifa, the world governing body, has insisted that there is no question of finding an alternative nation to host the tournament and said that the competition will go on as scheduled. The tournament promises to be the most heavily policed in World Cup history, with more than 200,000 officers recruited, backed up by an array of new equipment, such as sophisticated water cannon and high-tech surveillance cameras.

But Fifa officials will ask for details of the shooting of Mohlala, a former vice-president of the South African FA and head of the local council of Mbombela, the district of Nelspruit, where a stadium is being built for the World Cup.

A year ago, he sparked a massive investigation into corruption over the building of the Mbombela Stadium after claiming that there had been manipulation of tenders for construction contracts.