The number of people arrested for looting in several areas around Soweto has risen from 68 to 121, Gauteng police said on Friday.

They faced charges ranging from murder, attempted murder, possession of suspected stolen property and fraud, said provincial police commissioner Lt-General Lesetja Mothiba, in a press briefing held at the Moroka police station in Soweto.

Police had also retrieved 11 guns, ten of which were seized from foreign nationals.

Unrest and looting of foreign-owned shops in Soweto began on Monday when a foreign shop owner shot dead a 14-year-old boy whom he alleged was trying to forcefully gain entry into his shop.

The shop owner appeared in court Thursday.

"He was denied bail," said Mothiba, adding that the man would return to court on January 28.

The looting had since spread to the Diepsloot in the north of Johannesburg and Kagiso on the West Rand.

Mothiba said police had recovered goods worth thousands of rands which had been stolen from the shops.