Two shootings at bars in South Africa, where attackers appear to have fired randomly at patrons, have left at least 19 people dead in a slum near Johannesburg and in a town in the country’s east, police said Sunday.
In Soweto, a slum near Johannesburg, 15 people – including women – were killed when attackers opened fire on a reveling crowd overnight from Saturday to Sunday.
Meanwhile, in Pietermaritzburg, in the east of the country, in the Zulu region, several men opened fire indiscriminately in a tavern, leaving four people dead.
The similarity of the mode of operation intrigues the investigators, despite the fact that shootings are common in South Africa, one of the most violent countries in the world, fueled by gang violence and alcohol.
“We cannot allow violent criminals to terrorize us in this way,” President Cyril Ramaphosa said in a statement. These violent deaths are “unacceptable and worrying,” he added, offering his condolences to the families.
In the tragedy in Soweto, located southwest of the South African economic capital, the police received a call just after midnight.
“When we arrived at the scene there were 12 people dead from gunshot wounds,” said Nonhlanhla Kubheka, a local police commander.
Eleven injured people were transported to a hospital, where three succumbed to their injuries, police said.
The victims were between 19 and 35 years old. There is no detail on the number or profile of the attackers.
“They arrived and fired at people who were having fun,” Kubheka, who is in charge of security in Orlando, the Soweto neighborhood where the tragedy occurred, told AFP.
The official added that they have not yet made any arrests and that they have opened an investigation.
One year after the riots in South Africa
“According to testimonies, they fired at random,” regional police chief Elias Mawela confirmed to AFP.
Hundreds of people from the neighborhood gathered behind the police cordons, according to AFP journalists present at the scene.
The bodies had already been removed and the police took the relatives of the victims who, devastated, tried to approach the bar.
In Pietermaritzburg, the shooting began around 8:30 p.m. local time and left four dead and eight wounded, local police spokeswoman Nqobile Gwala confirmed.
“A group of people were drinking in a tavern and a vehicle parked in front” of the premises, he explained.
“Two men jumped out of the vehicle and entered the bar where they opened fire indiscriminately on patrons,” he added.
Two people died at the scene and another two in hospital, he said, specifying that there are eight wounded hospitalized. The fatalities were between 30 and 45 years old.
According to Mayor Mzimkhulu Thebola, everything happened very quickly. There are no robberies, no fights. However, the official relativizes: “Every week we learn that people have been shot at random.”
The two incidents occur a year after the worst wave of violence the country has experienced since the end of apartheid and the arrival of democracy.
In July 2021, several riots, with massive looting and destruction of industrial plants, left more than 350 dead and thousands arrested, all in the midst of a wave of covid-19.
