Twenty-two people have died and 217 people have been arrested during a wave of attacks in Gauteng.

Police spokesman Director Govindsamy Mariemuthoo said 19 people died in attacks over the weekend and three people died the previous week.

The violence started in Alexandra, then moved to Diepsloot. He said it was relatively quiet in these two areas on Monday, but police had had to contain violence in Zandspruit, Primrose, Tembisa, Reiger Park, Tokoza and a few other areas on the East Rand since the weekend.

"The SA Police Services want to make it quite clear that these are acts of criminality," said Mariemuthoo. "We are going to act against these people and we want people to use dialogue." - Sapa