Johannesburg - Five people died and at least four were wounded in new year shootings around South Africa, but police said on Saturday that the millennium celebration was among the quietest new year transitions of the decade.

A new year's party turned to tragedy in the remote north of KwaZulu-Natal province when a lone gunman opened fire on revellers five minutes after midnight, police said. Police director Mr Bala Naidoo said four men in their twenties were killed and two others were wounded when a man with an AK-47 assault rifle walked into Zungu's Tuck Shop at Nongoma and opened fire. He said police knew who the killer was and expected to make an arrest.