Two mass shootings in South Africa leave 27 dead
The two attacks hours apart come as the country struggles to stop high levels of gang-related armed violence.
Two mass shootings in South Africa leave 27 dead
Twenty-seven people have been killed in two mass shootings that took place hours apart in South Africa, marking the latest outbreak of gun violence in the country.
Seventeen people died when eight gunmen attacked a bar near Johannesburg on Saturday evening, and 15 others were wounded.
In a separate incident in the early hours of Sunday morning, 10 people were killed outside an entertainment venue in a township near Cape Town, while another 11 were injured.
South Africa has one of the world’s highest murder rates and has struggled in recent years to curb gang-related gun violence. Police have not given a motive for either of the latest attacks.
In Johannesburg, the gunmen fired on customers outside the bar before carrying the assault inside and setting fire to two vehicles before escaping.
Police said 13 men and four women were among the dead, and added that the motive remained unclear.
In Cape Town, five victims died at the scene and five more later died in hospital.
No arrests had been made in either case by Sunday morning.
The two mass shootings came days after 11 people were killed in Durban when gunmen stormed a house in the KwaMakhutha township.
Illegal weapons are widespread in South Africa and gun violence has been a long-running problem, with about 60 murders recorded each day in the country of 62 million.
However, a recent wave of mass shootings has heightened fears that the situation is worsening, with violence often tied to turf wars between gangs involved in drug trafficking and illegal mining.
In February, President Cyril Ramaphosa described organised crime as "the most immediate threat to our democracy, our society and our economic development".
Earlier this year, the military was deployed alongside police in the areas with the highest murder rates in an attempt to reduce armed violence.