JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - Police have arrested five men in the killing of reggae star Lucky Dube, who was gunned down in an apparent carjacking attempt.

Police spokesman Eugene Opperman said the men were arrested Sunday morning and will appear in court Tuesday. Police also seized two stolen handguns and a car allegedly used during the crime.

Dube, who launched his career in the 1980s with criticism of the apartheid regime, was killed after he dropped off two of his children at his brother's suburban Johannesburg house.

Dube's friends told South African Sunday newspapers they believed it was a targeted assassination. But Opperman said police still believed he was shot in a botched carjacking.

Carjacking is rife in South Africa, which has gained notoriety for its high rate of violent crime.

Dube, one of South Africa's best-known singers, recorded more than 20 albums in a career spanning more than two decades.