Two South Africa Shootings Leave 27 Dead and 26 Wounded

At least 27 people were killed and 26 others wounded in two separate mass shootings in South Africa, police said.

The first attack took place at a bar west of Johannesburg on Saturday evening. Police said eight gunmen armed with assault rifles entered the premises at about 7:30 p.m. GMT and opened fire.

According to police, the attackers initially shot at people drinking outside before continuing to fire inside the bar. Seventeen people were killed, including 13 men and four women, while 15 others were wounded.

The gunmen also set fire to two vehicles before fleeing, police said. The motive for the attack was not known, and no arrests had been made at the time of the report.

Second shooting near Cape Town

Hours later, a separate shooting was reported at an entertainment venue in a township outside Cape Town, in the Cape Flats area.

Police said 10 people were killed and 11 others wounded in that attack. Five victims died at the scene, while the remaining victims succumbed to their injuries while being taken to hospital.

No suspects had been arrested in connection with the second shooting, and authorities did not establish whether the two incidents were linked.

Wider violence concerns

South Africa, a country of about 62 million people, records approximately 60 murders a day, according to the source report. Authorities have frequently associated deadly attacks with gang disputes and competition among informal businesses.

Security forces have repeatedly been deployed to areas affected by severe violence. About 1,300 soldiers were sent to support police operations in the gang-plagued Cape Flats in 2019. Soldiers were also deployed to crime hotspots in Johannesburg in March, while President Cyril Ramaphosa has described rampant crime as one of the country’s major threats.

The military has additionally been used during periods of unrest, including violence linked to the 2020 Covid-19 lockdown, the 2021 riots that followed former President Jacob Zuma’s imprisonment and truck burnings in 2023.

The shootings came amid a separate investigation in the Johannesburg area into the killing of a woman who police said was found semi-naked and had been stoned to death. A suspect was arrested in that case. Police said 10 women had been killed in the same municipality over the previous two months and offered a 400,000-rand reward, reported as $25,000, for information leading to arrests. The Democratic Alliance offered an additional $31,000.