# Twenty-eight killed in two mass shootings in South Africa

> Gunmen opened fire at a bar near Johannesburg and an entertainment venue near Cape Town hours apart, marking the latest in a surge of mass violence.
- Title: Twenty-eight killed in two mass shootings in South Africa
- Summary: Gunmen opened fire at a bar near Johannesburg and an entertainment venue near Cape Town hours apart, marking the latest in a surge of mass violence…
- Keywords: south africa, mass shootings, johannesburg, cape town, gun violence, gang violence, news, world, Twenty-eight, killed, two, mass
- Source: BBC News — https://bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ck5ywnp075d1o
- Published: 2026-09-27T08:40:02.818+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: south africa, mass shootings, johannesburg, cape town, gun violence, gang violence, news, world
## 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
## Key takeaway

Twenty-eight people were killed in two mass shootings in South Africa hours apart on September twenty-seventh and twenty-eighth, continuing a surge in gang-related gun violence.