From ABC News · ABC News · · 2m
Mass shootings kill 27 in South African townships
Two separate attacks near Johannesburg and Cape Town within hours leave at least 27 dead, adding to a surge in gang violence.
In brief
Two separate attacks near Johannesburg and Cape Town within hours leave at least 27 dead, adding to a surge in gang violence. Two mass shootings in South African townships killed at least twenty-seven people on September twenty-seventh, part of a rising wave of gang violence in the country. Originally reported by ABC…
Eight gunmen attack bar near Johannesburg
Eight gunmen armed with AK-47 rifles and pistols opened fire at a bar in Wedela township, southwest of Johannesburg, late on Saturday. Seventeen people were killed and at least fifteen injured.
Attackers search victims and flee in vehicles
The gunmen fired at patrons outside the bar before moving inside to continue shooting. They searched some patrons and took mobile phones before escaping in two vehicles. Two cars were set alight outside.
Second shooting near Cape Town kills ten
Around four hours later, ten people were killed and eleven wounded in a shooting at a store linked to an entertainment venue in Lwandle township, near Cape Town. Police said they were searching for multiple suspects.
Part of a pattern of mass shootings
The attacks came five days after another mass shooting in KwaMakhutha township near Durban killed at least eleven people, including a pregnant woman, when multiple gunmen attacked a house party. No arrests were reported.
Resident describes shock at scale of violence
Wedela resident Siyabonga Nondabula said shootings involving illegal mining gangs had occurred before, but never targeting so many people. He said: "Seventeen people and maybe even more have died, this has never happened here."
“Seventeen people and (maybe) even more have died, this has never happened here.”
South Africa's homicide crisis by the numbers
South Africa recorded five thousand four hundred twenty-seven homicides in the three months ending June thirtieth, an average of nearly sixty a day. Shootings are the most common method of homicide in the country.
Illegal firearms fuel the violence
Estimates suggest between two million and six million illegal firearms are in circulation in South Africa. Political parties and the national gun owners association say these weapons are used in the vast majority of gun homicides.
President deploys soldiers to combat gang crime
President Cyril Ramaphosa deployed soldiers on the streets in March in a yearlong operation to combat crime in high-crime areas around Johannesburg and Cape Town. Soldiers were deployed Sunday to the scene of the bar shooting in Wedela.
The key point
Two mass shootings in South African townships killed at least twenty-seven people on September twenty-seventh, part of a rising wave of gang violence in the country.
