27 people killed in two shootings in South Africa

In South Africa, two mass shootings happened just hours apart over the weekend. These attacks left at least 27 people dead in two townships.

The South African Police Service reported that the shootings took place from Saturday night to early Sunday morning in areas not far from Johannesburg and Cape Town.

This latest violence adds to the problems of gun violence and high murder rates in the country. Pretoria has one of the highest rates of gun crime and murder in the world.

The shootings shocked many across the nation, according to media reports.

The police shared details of the first incident, which occurred on Saturday night at a bar southwest of Johannesburg. A group of eight unknown gunmen, armed with AK-47 rifles, attacked the bar in Wedela, a semi-rural area, and started shooting at customers.

Al Jazeera reported that 17 people died in this attack, and 15 others were injured. Among the dead were 13 men and 4 women.

The attackers also set two vehicles on fire before escaping.

Wedela is surrounded by land mainly used for mining. Some locals believe the violence is related to fights over control of the illegal gold mining trade among powerful gangs.

The police have launched an investigation to find the eight suspects involved in this shooting.

Later that night, another shooting happened at a barbecue venue in a township near Cape Town. Videos on social media showed people enjoying themselves before gunfire interrupted the fun.

France24 reported that 10 people died in this shooting. Five died at the scene, while five others were pronounced dead at the hospital. Eleven more people were also hurt in the attack.

The South African Police Service said they are searching for several suspects linked to this brutal crime.

From April to June, South Africa recorded about 5,427 homicides, mainly in poorer areas. The country sees an average of nearly 60 murders every day.

The high murder rate led President Cyril Ramaphosa to send soldiers to patrol the streets in March. He described organized gang crime as the biggest threat to South Africa's democracy and economic growth.

After the recent shootings, President Cyril Ramaphosa stated that security forces will do everything possible to stop the rising violence in the country.

"The clear instruction to our security forces is that we must bring the levels of criminality and violence down.
We cannot be a country where people just pick up guns and start shooting at people at random," he said.