Afghan blast waste of human life: ANC

The suicide bomb attack that killed eight South Africans in Kabul, Afghanistan was described as "an unwarranted waste of life" by the African National Congress on Wednesday.

"These wanton and indiscriminate killings are not helping to defuse tensions in Afghanistan," said spokesman Jackson Mthembu in a statement.

The South Africans were killed around 4am on Tuesday.

Mthembu said the party was calling for the parties at war to "give peace a chance".

It also extended condolences to the victims' families. "We extend our heartfelt condolence to the families of our fellow South Africans and call on all South Africans to keep them in their prayers," he said. Trade union ferderation Cosatu also condemned the attack, saying there was no justification for the random killing of the South Africans and others, whatever the complaint may have been.

The motive for the attack was reportedly a film, made in the United States, about the Prophet Mohammed.

"We demand that the perpetrators be brought to justice," Cosatu said in a statement. The Beeld newspaper reported that the victims worked for the Johannesburg company, ACS/Balmoral.

The suicide bomber, thought to be a woman, also died in the attack, as did the Afghan minibus driver, a ground crew member from Kyrgyzstan, and a pedestrian.

Airline Pilots' Association president Captain Fanie Coetzee said the bomb had been a deliberate attack on innocent civilians.

"This abhorrent and senseless tragedy is viewed by the Association as not only a direct threat to civil society and global peace, but a blatant and deliberate attack on innocent civilians."

Members of the ALPA-SA were among those killed.

The African Christian Democratic Party was also aggrieved by the deaths.

"We strongly condemn the practice of suicide bombing and those responsible for it. There can be no justification for so heartlessly and cruelly taking these and other lives," its chief whip Cheryllyn Dudley said in a statement.

The ACDP called on "Media for Christ" to either refute accusations that they were involved in the production of the anti-Islam film, or take responsibility for their actions.

The department of international relations and co-operation released the names of those killed in the blast on Wednesday.

The victims were: -- Christian Johannes Justus Pretorius, 30, from Pretoria, Gauteng -- Fraser Angus Carey, 31, from Johannesburg, Gauteng -- Brandon Quinn Booth, 47, from Balgowan, KwaZulu-Natal -- Johan Abraham van Huyssteen, 31, from Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape -- Johan Frederick Bouchaud, 30, from Johannesburg, Gauteng -- Johannes Judenis Humphries, 65, from Centurion, Gauteng -- Steven Leong, 31, from Johannesburg, Gauteng -- Jenny Margaret Ayris, 46, from Scotland in the United Kingdom