Nine people were killed and ten wounded when gunmen opened fire at a bar near Johannesburg, marking the second mass shooting in South Africa this month.
JOHANNESBURG: Nine people were killed when unknown gunmen opened fire at a bar outside Johannesburg early on Sunday.
Around a dozen men attacked the tavern at Bekkersdal, a gold mining area southwest of the city, just before 1:00 am.
Police initially said 10 people were killed but later revised the toll downwards.
The attackers in two vehicles “opened fire at tavern patrons and continued to shoot randomly as they fled the scene,” a police statement said.
The dead included a driver from an online car-hailing service who had been outside the bar, provincial police commissioner Major General Fred Kekana told SABC television.
A manhunt for the attackers has been launched.
South Africa is grappling with entrenched crime and corruption driven by organised networks.
Shootings are common and often fuelled by gang violence and competition between informal businesses.
This contributes to one of the highest murder rates in the world.
On December 6, gunmen stormed a hostel near the capital Pretoria, killing a dozen people including a three-year-old child.
Police said that shooting was at a site that was illegally selling alcohol.
An average of 63 people were killed each day between April and September, according to police data.
Most deaths stemmed from arguments, with robberies and gang violence also driving the toll.
In one of the deadliest recent incidents, 18 relatives were shot dead at a rural homestead in the country’s Eastern Cape province in September 2024.
