JOHANNESBURG. — Twenty seven people were killed in two mass shootings in South Africa, including at a tshisanyama in Cape Town, after gunmen opened fire in deadly incidents which happened within a matter of hours.
The first incident took place at around 9:30pm on Saturday when eight gunmen armed with assault rifles stormed a tavern in Wedela, near Carletonville, and killed 17 people.
A further 15 others were wounded in the incident. The suspects opened fire on customers drinking outside and then moved inside to continue shooting, the South African Police Service (SAPS) confirmed.
The victims included 13 males and four females.The motive for the shooting was still unknown, police said, adding that the suspects torched two vehicles before fleeing.
In a separate shooting at a shisanyama (braai) venue in Lwandle, Cape Town, in the early hours of yesterday, gunmen killed 10 people and wounded 11 more. Five of the victims were declared dead at the scene, while the others succumbed to their injuries while being taken to hospital.
No suspect has been arrested in either case, police said.
The attacks come as the country grapples with persistent gun violence, often linked to gang rivalries and competition among informal businesses.
The mass shooting in Cape Town happened at about 1.46am yesterday, turning what had been a night out into a deadly crime scene. “Lwandle police have opened murder and attempted murder cases,” police said. Western Cape police commissioner Lt-Gen Sizakhele Dyantyi has established a multidisciplinary team, led by serious violent crime detectives, to investigate the attack and trace those responsible.
“Detectives are hard at work in search of the perpetrators of the shooting, with no arrests effected yet,” Dyantyi said. The identities of those killed will be released once their next of kin have been informed.
SAPS management increased police deployments in Lwandle as the search for the gunmen continues.
Police appealed to anyone with information that could assist the investigation to contact SAPS, saying information received would be treated in strict confidence.
In March this year, soldiers moved into violence hotspots in Jo’burg to support police efforts to tackle rampant crime, described by President Cyril Ramaphosa as one of the biggest threats facing the country.
In 2019, around 1,300 soldiers were deployed to back up police in the gang-afflicted Cape Flats areas surrounding Cape Town.
Yet shootings and other violent crime remain a persistent threat.
In Johannesburg, 10 women have been killed in the Ukurhuleni area in the space of just two months, with the latest having been found in a cemetery on Saturday, semi-naked and stoned to death. On Sunday, police announced that a suspect had been taken into custody in connection with that killing.
The nine other victims were mostly in their 20s and 30s, with some found stripped of their clothes and showing signs of sexual assault.
Police have offered a R400,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the killer or killers. —IOL/TimesLive
