Gunmen killed at least 27 people in two mass shootings in South Africa's two main cities, Johannesburg and Cape Town, police said on Sunday. The attacks occurred in the latest criminal violence to hit the country. In one incident, eight gunmen armed with assault rifles and pistols stormed a bar southwest of Johannesburg at around 1930 GMT on Saturday, killing 17 people and wounding 15 others.
The dead in the Johannesburg shooting included 13 males and four females. The suspects opened fire on customers drinking outside and then moved inside to continue shooting, police said. The shooting took place in Wedela, a semi-rural township of brick houses and small businesses, surrounded by wide expanses of land used for mining. The suspects torched two vehicles before fleeing.
The motive of the attack was unknown, but deputy provincial police commissioner Major General Fred Kekana said the attack appeared to have been retaliation for an incident last month. One of the victims was being sought by police in connection with an incident at the same tavern last month in which one person was killed and another wounded, Kekana said.
In a separate shooting at a barbecue venue in a township outside Cape Town early on Sunday, gunmen killed 10 people and wounded 11 more. Five of the victims were declared dead at the scene while the others died while being transported to hospital. Two of those killed were female, police said. No suspect has been arrested in either case, police said.
The attacks come as South Africa continues to grapple with high levels of gun violence, often linked to gangs, organised crime and local business rivalries. The country of about 62 million people records roughly 60 murders a day, among the highest rates globally. President Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday said security forces "are going to continue pulling out all stops" to put an end to criminality.
President Ramaphosa said the clear instruction to security forces is that they must bring the levels of criminality and violence down. He added that South Africa cannot be a country where people just pick up guns and start shooting at people at random. The army has been deployed to reinforce police efforts against violent crime, with soldiers deployed to violence hotspots in Johannesburg in March.
The latest shootings are part of a persistent threat of violent crime in South Africa. In 2019, around 1,300 soldiers were deployed to back up police in the gang-afflicted Cape Flats areas surrounding Cape Town. Despite these efforts, shootings and other violent crime remain a major concern, with 11 women killed in a single municipality in Johannesburg in two months.
Key points
- At least 27 people were killed in two mass shootings in South Africa's main cities, Johannesburg and Cape Town.
- The attacks are part of a larger problem of gun violence in South Africa, which records roughly 60 murders a day.
- The army has been deployed to reinforce police efforts against violent crime, with soldiers deployed to violence hotspots in Johannesburg in March.
