By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Five people have been shot dead in a house in Amaoti near Inanda north of Durban, KwaZulu-Natal police confirmed on Thursday.
The police spokesperson Jay Naicker: “The deceased were found in the house with multiple gunshot wounds. It was established that all five deceased, who are in their twenties, were in the house when they were shot by unknown suspects, who arrived in a getaway vehicle.”
“A sixth victim who was shot in the hand, was taken to hospital for medical attention. From information gathered at the scene of the shooting incident, we cannot rule out the possibility that the motive is drug-related,” adds Naicker.
According to Prem Balram from Reaction Unit SA (Rusa) they received reports of a shooting after members of the community heard gunfire coming from a house.
He said on arrival they found five people had been shot.
“Two bodies were discovered under a bed, one in the kitchen and two others in a toilet.”
The incident comes a few days after seven people believed to be drug addicts, were shot dead in KwaMashu north of Durban.
Meanwhile the South African Police Service destroyed more than R800 million worth of drugs seized across the country.
National Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola led Thursday morning’s operation at a non-disclosed venue in Gauteng.
Briefing the media at the operation, Masemola said it was the third such operation during the current financial year.
“These were drugs that were confiscated during day-to-day policing operations across the country. These include cocaine, heroin, mandrax, and marijuana.
“This is the third drug destruction process in this financial year. The most recent destruction was in Cape Town in September, where one point seven tons to the value of R170 million rand was destroyed.”
In the 2022/2023 financial year, twenty-point-eight tons of drugs with a street value of 2 billion rand was also destroyed,” he said.
Masemola said the drugs that were destroyed are linked to a number of high-profile cases.
“This includes the Maydon Wharf case where more than one tonne of cocaine worth a street value of R400 million was seized.
“This drug bust happened in August 2022 when Ebrahim Kara, Elias Radebe, and Meshack Ngobese were arrested in Cape Town after a truck transporting more than 600 blocks of cocaine was stopped by police, and the drugs were discovered hidden in false wooden boards.”
“This matter was finalised, and Kara was handed down an eight-year sentence while Radebe and Ngobese were handed down one-year and six years imprisonment sentences respectively,” added Masemola.