7 arrested for Alex shootings as death toll rises to 6

Cele spoke to the media outside a local police station following a visit to the area on Friday.

The death toll has risen to six after one of the victims died in hospital.

Four others were wounded.

One of the victims was a popular presenter on community radio station Alex FM, Joshua Mbatha.

Cele says the police also recovered ten cell phones, firearms, and ammunition.

“We would like to thank the people of Alex, councillors, and everybody that in the shortest possible time, police have worked well. At least they found one weapon and empty cartridges of a pistol and they have arrested 7 suspects, that's on the cooperation if the community.

“There are four in hospital now because the fifth one died amongst them, the charges we are talking about murder, attempted murder, and robbery because police have found more than 10 cell phones," said Cele.

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He said the shootings cannot at this stage be linked to recent incidents in KZN, Soweto and Mamelodi.

“I would not concede that there is coordination here, it does look like the motive was very clear, it was robbery, people were robbed.

“In Mamelodi, those where people that were chasing one another, somebody owing somebody money, so it not just an ordinary shooting in the township. In KZN, people that have been picked up, it has been discovered that they were fighting over territory of drugs or other things.

“In Soweto, people just went there and shot and ran away, so though they seem to be similar, we have no evidence of coordination that there is somebody sitting down and planning this. Until we find that evidence, it is all just a coincidence.”