South African police probe shooting after five deaths

South African detectives are investigating the deaths of five people in Cape Town's Khayelitsha township after a shooting incident, police said on Wednesday.

South Africa has one of the highest murder rates in the world, with about 20,000 murders recorded every year out of a population of about 60 million.

"At around 06:00 am, police were summoned to a shooting incident in Ncumu Street where the bodies of four males and one female were discovered with gunshot wounds," the South African Police Service said in a statement.

Police said the deaths could be linked to an incident in the early hours of the day when another person was shot and killed in the same vicinity.

Police have yet to identify the victims or the motive for the shooting.

According to campaign group Gun Free South Africa, on average 31 people are shot and killed every day in the country, which has 4.5 million licensed guns.