“No one shot, no one injured, and no one has died”.

These were the words of Minister of Police Bheki Cele on Saturday night following reports that there was a dead body found near the home of the late Mama Winnie Madikizela-Mandela.

Earlier in the day police said they were investigating an incident that apparently took place outside struggle stalwart Madikizela-Mandela’s home on Friday night.

There was a strong police presence outside the home on Saturday morning.

Cele said an ex-combatant of the ANC’s MKMVA fired shots about 2km from the home.

“MK members should not be doing this. We are dealing with this matter and dealing with the ex-combatants. In the morning I confirmed no body injured.”

He said police were in the area earlier in the day to pick up spent cartridges.

“A police investigation unit picked up some cartridges. They need to pick it to see the caliber of weapon and see if it is not linked to other crime scenes.”

‘Unacceptable’

Random discharging of weapons was unacceptable, Cele said.

“If you commit any form of crime including shooting in the air, [you] will be arrested and face [the]consequences of things [you are] not supposed to do.”

He said police had beefed up security in the area with Tactical Response Teams (TRT) patrolling.

“We have pushed up the deployments in the area. We have TRT here and on Vilikazi street, so people can enjoy life without interference.”

Cele said that he would personally meet with ex-combatants of the MKMVA. He said he had met with ex-combatant commanders earlier in the day.

Also read: Police probe ‘incident’ outside Madikizela-Mandela’s home