At least 27 people killed in separate South African mass shootings

 n South Africa, two mass shootings occurred hours apart between Saturday and Sunday that killed at least 27 people in two townships. 

The South African Police Service disclosed that shootings took place between Saturday night and early Sunday morning in towns a few kilometres away from Johannesburg and Cape Town. 

This is the latest criminal violence to hit the country that has perpetually dealt with a high rate of gun violence and homicide. Pretoria has one of the highest rates of gun violence and homicide in the world. 

But the shooting last night came as a shock to the country, according to media reports. 

The police account of the incident identified that the first massacre occurred on Saturday night at a bar Southwest of Johannesburg. A group of eight unidentified criminals, wielding AK-47 rifles, stormed the bar in Wedela, a semi-rural township, and opened fire on customers. 

Al Jazeera reported that 17 people were killed in this incident and 15 were injured. The demographics of those killed were 13 men and 4 women. 

The suspects also torched two vehicles before fleeing.

Weldela is an area surrounded by wide expanses of land mostly used for mining. Some residents of the community have attributed the violence to competition over the control of the illicit gold mining trade between powerful gangs.

The police said it has begun an investigation to identify the 8 suspects involved in the shooting. 

At midnight, a separate shooting occurred at a barbecue venue in a township near Cape Town. Videos of the incident circulating on social media showed revellers drinking and dancing at the entertainment spot before a burst of gunshots disrupted the gathering. 

France24 reported that 10 people died in the attack, five of them died on the spot, and the other half were pronounced dead in the hospital. Eleven other people were also wounded.

SAPS said they are on the hunt for multiple suspects responsible for the gruesome crime. 

ALSO READ: Xenophobia: Over 30 Nigerians killed by South African police since 2022 – Ambassador

Between April and June, South Africa recorded around 5,427 homicides, mostly in its poor districts. The country reported an average of nearly 60 homicides a day. 

South Africa’s homicide problem prompted President Cyril Ramaphosa to deploy soldiers on the streets in March. At the time, he described organised gang crimes as the biggest threat to South Africa’s democracy and economic development. 

Hours after the recent attacks, President Cyril Ramaphosa declared that security forces will be pulling out all stops to end criminal violence in the country.

“The clear instruction to our security forces is that we must bring the levels of criminality and violence down. 

“We cannot be a country where people just pick up guns and start shooting at people at random,” he said.