Another explosive device has been found in Durban, bringing the total number of devices found there to six in the last five days, TimesLive reported. It is believed that the device was found at the Wentworth Spar.
A source reportedly told TimesLive the police's explosives unit arrived at the Spar on Monday afternoon after the device was discovered and took it away for testing. Police spokesperson Brigadier Vish Naidoo reportedly said the police were called to examine a "suspicious" device but that it proved to be "negative".
A source told the Daily News that a young man approached a store manager with an envelope and told him that if he did not put money inside the envelope and leave it outside the building, a bomb would go off.
The manager reportedly took the boy to the Wentworth police station, metres away from the store, and the bomb and K9 units went to the shop, where a black packet was found outside.
Two small explosives devices were found among parked cars in the Durban suburb of Berea weekend, reported TimesLive. The police confirmed that explosives were found under a vehicle at Marriott Road just after 10pm on Saturday night, and another device exploded about an hour later, at Avondale and Milner roads. No one was injured.
According to News24, it was first thought the devices were targeting the Durban July, but this was not the case.
And in the early hours of last Thursday morning, two small "incendiary" devices were planted at two separate Woolworths stores in Durban – one at the Gateway mall store, and the other at the Pavillion shopping centre store.
According to the Daily News, the devices were incendiary devices rather than bombs because they were intended to start a fire rather than to explode. Both devices reportedly set off small fires in the stores which were quickly extinguished. One of the devices was planted in a jacket pocket on a clothing rack.
Last month, a device made from a PVC pipe with cellphones attached to it was found under the chair of a moulana at a mosque in Verulam, Durban. Days before, three men launched an attack on the mosque, stabbing three people. One person died while two others were injured.
At this stage, there is no evidence to suggest that any of the incidents are related.
KwaZulu-Natal premier Willies Mchunu condemned the incidents, according to News24.
He reportedly said, "We condemn in the strongest possible terms the placing of bomb-like devices in public places whose only intention can be to plant fear and insecurity among the citizens of KwaZulu-Natal."