Six security guards killed in South Africa attack

Detectives processing a crime scene. [Getty Images]

Six security guards about to go on patrol near a school have been shot and killed in South Africa, police said Monday, not far from where 18 people were gunned down just over a week ago.

"Six people were fatally shot, and four were injured at the Lugongozo Junior Secondary School in Tina Falls near Qumbu last night," police said in a statement.

"A group of at least eight men, who were armed with rifles and handguns, opened fire," the statement said, adding that the suspects were "still at large".

National Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola, who visited the area Monday, told reporters that six guards had survived the attack.

Six suspects had been identified, he said, adding that "Three of them we can confirm are local people."

"We got the motive that it is stock-theft related, but also there is some conflict within various villages, but the whole motive will be unfolded later," Masemola said.

Tina Falls, in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa, sits in an area known for cattle raiding.

It is around 50 kilometres (30 miles) from Ngobozana, a village in Lusikisiki where a mass shooting that shocked the country took place on September 28.

Three suspects were detained for questioning though the motive behind the massacre remains unknown. Many of the victims were relatives, mostly women, who were killed at a rural homestead.

Calls are increasing in South Africa for more police protection in a country with one of the highest per capita murder rates in the world.

The government said that the latest shooting was "totally unacceptable" and that "law enforcement agencies will ensure that the perpetrators are bought to book".

"Teams of detectives and forensic experts are on the ground, and investigations are underway," it said in a statement.