Two mass shootings in South Africa kill 27 in one weekend

Two mass shootings hours apart in South Africa killed 27 people, police said. Seventeen people were killed and 15 injured when eight gunmen attacked a bar close to Johannesburg on Saturday evening, and 10 people were killed and 11 injured outside an entertainment venue in a township near Cape Town in the early hours of Sunday.

What happened in the Johannesburg bar shooting?

Eight gunmen opened fire on customers outside a bar close to Johannesburg on Saturday evening, then continued shooting inside the venue and set two vehicles alight before fleeing, according to police. Gauteng Police Commissioner Lt Gen Tommy Mthombeni said 13 men and four women were killed and 15 other people were injured. He said people from Ethiopia and Lesotho were among those caught up in the attack, but that the vast majority were South African.

What did police say about the motive?

Lt Gen Tommy Mthombeni said police believed robbery was the motive because personal belongings had been taken, but that they could not rule out turf wars between illegal mining groups. Mining without permission in abandoned shafts or dump sites is a persistent problem in South Africa and causes numerous deaths from unsafe conditions; authorities say the miners are typically undocumented migrants recruited by organised crime gangs.

Earlier, 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, according to the news agency AFP. He said at the scene that police had clear pictures and in some cases names for the suspects.

What happened in the Cape Town shooting?

Ten people were killed and 11 injured in a separate shooting outside an entertainment venue in a township near Cape Town. Five victims died at the scene and a further five died in hospital, police said. No arrests had been made in either case on Sunday morning.

How does this compare with other recent South African shootings?

South Africa has one of the highest murder rates in the world, with about 60 murders recorded every day in a country of 62 million people, and illegal weapons are prevalent. The two attacks came days after 11 people were killed in the KwaMakhutha township near Durban, when gunmen stormed a house. In February, President Cyril Ramaphosa called organised crime “the most immediate threat to our democracy, our society and our economic development”. Earlier this year, the military was deployed alongside police in areas with the highest murder rates. The United States has also imposed visa limits on South Africans over discrimination.

What other cases are police investigating?

On Saturday, a tenth woman’s body was found in Ekurhuleni, to the east of Johannesburg. Local police said they were unable to rule out a serial killer operating in the area, citing similarities between the deaths.

Frequently asked questions

How many people were killed in the two South African mass shootings?

Twenty-seven people died: 17 in a bar shooting close to Johannesburg and 10 outside an entertainment venue in a township near Cape Town. A further 26 people were injured across the two attacks.

Where did the shootings take place?

One attack happened at a bar close to Johannesburg on Saturday evening, and the other outside an entertainment venue in a township near Cape Town in the early hours of Sunday.

Have police made any arrests?

No arrests had been made in either case by Sunday morning. In the Johannesburg attack, police said they had clear pictures and in some cases names for the suspects.

What is South Africa’s murder rate?

South Africa has one of the highest murder rates in the world, with about 60 murders recorded every day in a country of 62 million people. Officials have linked much of the violence to gang turf wars over drug trafficking and illegal mining.

With reporting from BBC News.

Stock image, not from the events described. Globe World — Jo%E3o%20Silas / Wikimedia Commons (CC0 1.0)