/ 23 January 2002

Eight arrested in SA for deadly shooting spree

Durban | Wednesday

SOUTH African police have arrested eight men for a shooting spree that left seven dead in the eastern KwaZulu-Natal province, a police representative said on Wednesday.

“We arrested four people in the early hours of this morning, which followed the arrests of another four people on Monday,” said KwaZulu-Natal police representative Superintendent Vishnu Naidoo.

He said police had seized a pistol and shotgun during the arrests at Besters, the small town where the attack took place on Monday.

During the dawn attack a dozen gunmen killed seven people at seven houses and burned down another house at Besters, near the Indian Ocean port of Durban.

The shootings were in apparent revenge for the killing of a notorious gang member by people in the community, the African National Congress party in KwaZulu-Natal claimed.

Naidoo said the suspects, between 19 and 22 years old, would be charged with murder, public violence and possession of illegal firearms when they appear in court Thursday.

More arrests were imminent, he said. – AFP