Eighteen killed near Johannesburg

Eight gunmen stormed a bar close to Johannesburg on Saturday evening, killing eighteen people and injuring fourteen more. Gunmen opened fire on customers outside before continuing inside and torching two vehicles.

Ten killed near Cape Town

In a separate shooting in the early hours of Sunday morning, ten people were killed outside an entertainment venue in a township near Cape Town and eleven more were injured. Five victims died at the scene and five in hospital.

Police suspect robbery or turf wars

Gauteng Police Commissioner Lt Gen Tommy Mthombeni said police believed the motive behind the Johannesburg shooting was robbery, as personal belongings had been taken. Police could not rule out turf wars between illegal mining groups.

Possible retaliation for earlier incident

Deputy provincial police commissioner Maj Gen Fred Kekana said the attack may have been retaliation for an incident last month in which one person was killed and another wounded. Police had clear pictures and in some cases names for suspects.

Part of a wider surge in violence

The two shootings came days after eleven people were killed in Durban when gunmen stormed a house in the KwaMakhutha township. South Africa records about sixty murders every day in a country of sixty-two million.

President calls organised crime a threat

In February, President Cyril Ramaphosa called organised crime the most immediate threat to South Africa's democracy, society and economic development. Earlier this year, the military was deployed alongside police in areas with the highest murder rates.

“the most immediate threat to our democracy, our society and our economic development”