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Durban - Claims by striking Word Cup security guards in Durban that one of their colleagues died after being shot with rubber bullets were a "blatant lie", KwaZulu-Natal police said on Thursday.

“It is a lie that a female guard died. We heard the rumour on Wednesday. We checked and checked but we found no information about the death,” Brigadier Phindile Radebe said.

Addressing hundreds of security guards at a protest march in Durban on Wednesday, one of the leaders of the strike and one of the guards, Musa Mnyandu claimed a security guard died at Addington Hospital from injuries she sustained when she was shot.

Protest

Mnyandu did not release the woman's name. He was not immediately available to comment on Thursday.

Guards hired by Stallion Security to work at the stadium overturned refuse bins and threw objects at police in a protest over low wages on Monday morning, after the game between Germany and Australia on Sunday night.

Police fired rubber bullets to disperse them. Radebe said two guards sustained slight injuries.

“We challenge people to give us the name of he person they claim has died,” said Radebe.

Provincial health department spokesperson Chris Maxon Chris Maxon said he had been told by Addington Hospital officials they knew nothing about a guard dying.

Name unknown

Fifteen security guards interviewed outside Stallion Security offices on Stamford Hill Road on Thursday said they had been told one of their colleagues had died, but said they did not know her name.

Felakhe Bhengu, another of the strike's leaders, said he was one of the people investigating the claim.

“We went to Addington Hospital yesterday (Wednesday) and they told us that they would not help us because we were not related to the guard.”

Bhengu however claimed officials at Addington had confirmed the death. He said the hospital would struggle to locate the guard’s relatives because she had nothing identifying her.

“She had no name tag when she was taken to hospital. She lost it when cops shot at us.”