FREE State police are looking for three men who shot and seriously wounded a farmworker in the early hours of Thursday last week.

The men attacked 27-year-old Sekoli Lebabo on the farm Spioenkop in Fouriesburg after he refused to give them keys to the main house on the farm.

He was shot in the chest and later taken to Phekolong Hospital before being transferred to the Dihlabeng Hospital in Bethlehem.

Police spokesperson Majang Mosupa said three men were involved in the attack.

"The farmer had left Lebabo in charge while he was away. The man was sleeping at about 1am when the suspects broke his door down and assaulted him. They demanded keys to the main house," Mosupa said.

When Lebabo refused to hand over the keys he was shot.

"After shooting him they took the keys and went to the main house. They tried to open a safe with a metal object but failed," she said, adding that the suspects left empty-handed.

Mosupa appealed to the community to help arrest the suspects.

"We'd like to ask members of the community to help us catch these criminals - but not to try and apprehend them.

"If community members suspect anything they should let the police know as soon as possible."

Lebabo was released from Dihlabeng Hospital the next day. Dr Vincent Ramokoma did not go into detail about Lebabo's wound, but said it was not rare for a patient to make a rapid recovery.

"It depends on how the individual responds to treatment. When he left the hospital he was stable and I gave him a letter saying his wound should be treated at the clinic," Ramokoma said.