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Mass Shootings in South Africa Leave 27 Dead
Confirmed
In Short: South Africa has long struggled with violent crime, but recent mass shootings have raised fears that the problem is deepening. The country recorded 5,427 homicides in the three-months ending June 30, an average of nearly 60 a day, according to police statistics.
Two separate mass shootings in South African townships within hours of each other left at least 27 people dead, police said on Sunday. The first incident occurred late Saturday night near Johannesburg, where 17 people were killed at a small venue in Wedela township.
Hours later, in the early morning, a second mass shooting erupted outside an entertainment venue in Lwandle, near Cape Town, killing 10 people and wounding 11.
The attacks came just days after another mass shooting in a township near Durban killed at least 11 people, including a pregnant woman, when multiple gunmen attacked a house party in KwaMakhutha township.
The victims included 13 men and four women, with at least 15 other people injured, police said. Police Commissioner Lt. Gen. Tommy Mthombeni said the attacks were often linked to turf wars between gangs engaged in drug trafficking and illegal mining.
Police deployed specialized units to both townships and surrounding areas in the hunt for the gunmen. No arrests had been made in the two shootings as of Sunday morning, and no clear motive had been established.
President Cyril Ramaphosa said crime by organized gangs was the biggest threat to South Africa's democracy and economic development. He announced the deployment of soldiers to help combat the violence.
Wedela resident Siyabonga Nondabula said there had been shootings in the area in the past involving illegal mining gangs, but none of them targeted so many people.
Police said they were searching for multiple suspects, though they didn’t give an exact number. They also said personal belongings had been taken, suggesting robbery as a possible motive, but they could not rule out turf wars between illegal mining groups.
What this adds
South Africa has one of the highest murder rates in the world and has struggled to contain gang-related gun violence in recent years.
Police and crime experts have long identified the large number of illegal firearms in circulation as a major problem.
Some critics viewed the use of soldiers on the streets as an admission that police were failing.
Background
South Africa has long struggled with violent crime, but recent mass shootings have raised fears that the problem is deepening. Police Commissioner Lt. Gen. Tommy Mthombeni said the attacks were often linked to turf wars between gangs engaged in drug trafficking and illegal mining.
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. The country consists of nine provinces, and is bounded to the south by 2,798 kilometres of coastline that stretches along the South Atlantic and Indian Ocean; to the north by the neighbouring countries of Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe; and to the east and northeast by Mozambique and Eswatini.
What's confirmed
- CAPE TOWN, South Africa -- Two separate mass shootings in South African townships within hours of each other have left at least 27 people dead, police said on Sunday.
- The South African Police Service said 17 people were killed at the small venue in Wedela township, southwest of South Africa's biggest city.
- A high rate of killings is a longstanding problem for Africa's most advanced economy, but the phenomenon of mass shootings is becoming more common, according to experts, with recent killings often being carried out by multiple gunmen.
- Announcing the deployment, Ramaphosa said crime by organized gangs was the biggest threat to South Africa's democracy and economic development.
- South Africa recorded 5,427 homicides in the three-months ending June 30, an average of nearly 60 a day, according to police statistics.
- South Africa has struggled with violent crime for years, but recent shooting incidents have shocked a country used to some of the highest homicide rates in the world.
- Around four hours later, 10 people were killed and 11 wounded in a shooting at a store linked to what police described as an entertainment venue in Lwandle township, near Cape Town, South Africa's second biggest city.
- Gunmen torched vehicles as they fled the scene of a mass shooting at bar near Johannesburg Twenty-seven people have been killed in two mass shootings hours apart in South Africa, the latest gun violence to hit the country.
What's still developing
- South Africa has one of the highest murder rates in the world and has struggled to contain gang-related gun violence in recent years.
- Mining without permission in abandoned shafts or dump sites is a persistent problem in South Africa, causing numerous deaths from unsafe conditions.
- As of Sunday morning, police stated that no arrests had been made and no clear motive had been established for either attack. The twin tragedies come just days after another fatal attack in Durban, where 11 people were gunned down inside a residential property, highlighting a sharp escalation in armed violence across the nation. South Africa is working against the clock to combat one of the highest homicide rates globally, averaging about 60 murders a day in a country of 62 million people.
- “We cannot be a country where people just pick up guns and start shooting randomly and making the people of South Africa unsafe.” Police have opened 17 murder cases and 15 attempted murder cases.
- This comes as Moscow… Officials say three people were killed and four more were injured when an argument turned into gunfire at an after-hours strip club in Detroit… Seven years after becoming the second-highest grossing film ever, “Avengers: Endgame” returned to the No. 1 spot at the box office in a victor… Two mass shootings hours apart near South Africa’s two largest cities killed at least 27 people, police said.
- Shootings are the most common form of homicide in South Africa and police and crime experts have long said one of the biggest problems is a high number of illegal firearms in circulation.
- “This cannot go on like this,” South Africa’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, told local TV news channels.
- Some critics viewed the use of soldiers on the streets as an admission that police were failing.
- Police and crime experts have long identified the large number of illegal firearms in circulation as a major problem.
- Earlier, deputy provincial police commissioner Maj Gen Fred Kekana said the attack may have been a retaliation for an incident last month, in which one person was killed and another wounded, according to news agency AFP.
- He said at the scene that police had clear pictures and in some cases names for the suspects.
- On Saturday, a tenth woman's body was found in Ekurhuleni, to the east of Johannesburg, with local police saying they were unable to rule out a serial killer operating in the area with similarities between the deaths.