A gang of men who unleashed a reign of terror in Dasai, Marrianhill, outside Durban, were fatally shot in the early hours of this morning during a shoot-out with the police. The gang of eleven were wanted for serious crimes violent in the area and nine died during the exchange of fire.

Residents who spoke to SABC news after the shooting, said they were relieved that the gang will finally stop terrorising and hope that this incident sends out a strong message to the remaining two to stay away from their area. "We have been living in fear for a while now. Everyone is afraid of them; they don't mind breaking into a house in broad day light," she said. KZN police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda said the alleged gang was cornered by members of the KZN provincial stabilisation team. "The suspects were also being sought in connection with a case of rape where they allegedly gang raped a girl and made her mother watch the ordeal during a house robbery,"

Netshiunda added that intelligence driven information alerted them that the alleged gang was planning a hit and ready to execute it. "Three firearms have so far been found in possession of the suspects and a search is still ongoing." He said a manhunt for two outstanding suspects was still underway. Netshiunda said that although the police were ambushed when they erroneously knocked at the wrong house, the 'tactically astute' officers managed to retaliate and neutralised the threat with none of them suffering any injuries. Provincial Police Commissioner, Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, said criminals live among communities and word is bound to come out. "If you live next door and see a young man wearing expensive clothes and drive fancy cars, people are bound to ask questions about what he does for a living. When word is out, we do what we call "man marking". The station commander must know about that man, we start following him around to see what he does for a living. Obviously when we follow him, we will also see who he hangs around with and also mark them," he said.