South Africa Tavern Shooting Toll Rises to 18 as Weekend Violence Rattles Nation
JOHANNESBURG — The death toll from a weekend mass shooting at a South African tavern rose to 18 on Monday after one more victim died in hospital, police said, as the country grappled with the aftermath of two deadly attacks in less than 24 hours.
At least two of the dead were Lesotho nationals, according to police. Eighteen other people were wounded in the attack, and only four of the deceased had been identified: two South Africans and two citizens of Lesotho.
Police said eight gunmen armed with assault rifles stormed the tavern in Wedela, a semi-rural township about 80 kilometers (50 miles) west of central Johannesburg, late Saturday. The attackers killed 13 men and four women before fleeing, authorities said. The death toll later rose when one of the wounded died.
The motive remained unclear. Police said the attack may have been retaliation for an earlier shooting at the same tavern in August, when one person was killed and another was wounded.
The tavern owner, who asked not to be identified, told local journalists at the scene that the area had been gripped by rivalry among gangs involved in illicit gold mining. Bloodied clothing lay on the ground nearby.
"Even if they finish investigating, I am scared to continue selling again. I am too scared," she said.
The violence reflects a broader problem in South Africa’s informal mining economy. Thousands of unregistered miners work in abandoned shafts, a sector authorities have linked to organized crime, assassinations and other illegal activity. Many of the miners come from across southern Africa, including the kingdom of Lesotho, which is surrounded by South African territory.
A weekend of mass killings
In a separate attack early Sunday, gunmen killed 10 people and wounded 11 at an eating and drinking venue in Lwandle, a township outside Cape Town, police said. Video clips circulating on social media showed revelers dancing and drinking before gunfire erupted, sending people scrambling for cover.
Police said it was not immediately clear what prompted the Cape Town attack, though one official said business rivalry may have been a factor. No arrests have been made in either mass killing.
South Africa, home to about 62 million people, has one of the world’s highest murder rates, with roughly 60 people killed each day. Legal and illegal firearms are widely available, and shootings are common.
Julian Rademeyer, an adviser for the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, told Newzroom Afrika that there had been at least 41 mass killings in the country this year, costing 196 lives. Such attacks are "very often" linked to organized crime, he said, including illegal mining, gang violence and extortion.
In March, President Cyril Ramaphosa deployed the army to violence hotspots around Johannesburg and Cape Town after describing organized crime as the "most immediate threat" to South Africa’s democracy and economic development.
The weekend bloodshed has further rattled South Africans already alarmed by the discovery of the bodies of 11 women over 10 weeks in Johannesburg’s Ekurhuleni area, including one found on Sunday. Police said most of the victims were in their 20s and 30s, and some were found stripped of their clothes and showing signs of sexual assault.
In the same area, a 23-year-old woman was shot and killed early Monday during an alleged robbery while she was on her way to work, police said. Preliminary investigations had not established any link between that incident and the recent cases involving the bodies of women found in Ekurhuleni, they said in a statement.
The back-to-back shootings underscored the challenge facing authorities as they try to curb violent crime and illegal mining, with no arrests reported in either attack.