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, in the latest criminal violence to hit the country. 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 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. Residents were reluctant to speak about the incident, but one said that illegal miners, known locally as zama zamas from an isiZulu expression for "taking a chance", live in the area, where powerful gangs control the illicit gold mining trade.
The province's police commissioner, Tommy Mthombeni, told reporters that one line of inquiry was that the shooting was a "turf war in terms of illegal mining". Saturday's shooting could be retaliation for another at the same tavern about a month ago, he added. The area has been a focus of a government crackdown on illegal mining, with soldiers deployed alongside police to tackle criminal networks operating around abandoned mine shafts.
South Africa grapples with persistent gun violence. © Emmanuel Croset, "The criminals think it's a fashion. They want to make it something which we need to get used to, but that cannot be allowed and tolerated," deputy provincial police commissioner Major General Fred Kekana said at the scene. "We managed to get clear pictures of the suspects and we will get them," he said.
One of the victims was being sought by police in connection with last month's shooting at the same tavern, 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. In video clips shared on social media, revellers can be seen dancing and drinking before a burst of gunfire rings out, sending people scrambling for cover.
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. "A business jealousy might have been the issue," a police officer said, adding that there were reports that people had been buying alcohol in cheaper places and going to the venue to drink.
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