A police constable is recovering "very well" in hospital after being stabbed seven times and shot twice - with his own gun - by a "woman" who turned out to be a man wearing a wig in Roodepan, Kimberley.

The officer was admitted to Lenmed Royal Hospital and Heart Centre last week following the attack.

"He was off-duty and was working on his dockets," explained police spokesperson Capt Bashoabile Kale.

"As he was on his way to process [a case in which he had caught suspects] at the police station, he saw a suspicious man dressed in [women's] clothing."

When he initially spotted the suspicious person, the officer was under the impression that it was a woman. Kale said he stopped his vehicle at a distance to "check out the suspect".

"But the suspect spotted him and stabbed him seven times with sheep shears."

During a scuffle the suspect managed to grab the policeman's firearm and shoot him twice. "He was shot in the arm with his own firearm," Kale said.

The suspect fled with the service gun and is still on the run.