Three mass shootings in South African townships kill at least 38 people in one week
Three separate mass shootings struck South African townships over roughly one week, killing at least 38 people across the cities of Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Durban. No arrests had been made in any of the three incidents as of Sunday. South Africa records an average of nearly 60 homicides per day, and experts say the rate of mass shootings is rising.
On Saturday night, eight gunmen armed with AK-47 rifles and pistols opened fire on patrons at a bar in Wedela township, southwest of Johannesburg, killing 17 people — 13 men and four women — and wounding at least 15 others. Police said the attackers shot at patrons outside the bar before entering and continuing to fire inside. The suspects searched some patrons and took their mobile phones before fleeing in two vehicles.
Hours later, in the early hours of Sunday, 10 people were killed and 11 wounded at a store in Lwandle township near Cape Town. Five died at the scene and five others died later in hospital. The Western Cape police commissioner, Lieutenant General Sizkhele William Dyantyi, said investigators were looking into a business dispute as a possible motive, citing what he described as competition over where patrons chose to buy alcohol. A manhunt for the suspects was launched; no arrests were reported.
Earlier in the same week, on Tuesday night, 11 people were killed — including a pregnant woman — when multiple gunmen attacked a house party in KwaMakhutha township south of Durban. Police noted that several people at the house were known to authorities from prior criminal investigations but did not name an official motive.