Nine people died and at least ten others were injured after a group of gunmen opened fire in a bar in South Africa early Sunday morning, authorities said.
The incident occurred shortly before 1 a.m. in the Bekkersdal district, 46 kilometers west of Johannesburg.
This is the second mass shooting in South Africa in three weeks.
About 12 unknown suspects, in a white van and a silver car, opened fire on patrons of the KwaNoxolo bar in the Tambo area of Bekkersdal and continued shooting randomly as they fled the scene, according to police.
“Some victims were shot randomly in the streets by unknown gunmen,” police said of the incident. Maj. Gen. Fred Kekana, Gauteng’s acting provincial commissioner, told The Associated Press that the gunmen, some of whom wore balaclavas, were carrying an AK-47 rifle and several 9mm pistols.
Police have not released information about the victims, but police spokesperson Brigadier Brenda Muridili confirmed that a ride-hailing app driver was among those affected. She explained that the driver had just dropped off a passenger. “He was shot and killed,” she told The Associated Press.
The Gauteng Serious and Violent Crime Investigation Agency has launched a search for suspects in collaboration with the Crime Monitoring and Detection Unit.
In recent years, there have been several mass shootings at bars – sometimes called “shebeens” or “taverns” in South Africa – including a multi-weapon attack at a speakeasy near the South African capital that left at least 12 people dead and 13 injured earlier this month.
Sixteen more people were killed in the Soweto district of Johannesburg in 2022.
The same day, four people were killed in a mass shooting at a bar in another province.
With nearly 26,000 homicides in 2024, or more than 70 per day on average, South Africa has one of the highest homicide rates in the world.
Firearms are by far the leading cause of death in homicides. Although the country of 62 million people has relatively strict gun control laws, authorities say many murders are committed with illegal firearms.
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