JOHANNESBURG — Nine people were killed and 10 wounded when gunmen opened fire at a tavern in Bekkersdal, a township in South Africa’s gold mining belt about 40 kilometers (25 miles) southwest of Johannesburg, authorities said. It is the second mass shooting at a drinking spot in the country this month.
Deputy provincial police commissioner Maj. Gen. Fred Kekana said most of the attackers carried pistols and one had an AK-47 rifle. Three people were shot inside the bar and others were killed as they tried to flee, he told public broadcaster SABC from the scene. The gunmen continued shooting as they left and then robbed victims, he said.
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“It’s also reported that after they shot the people, they searched them. They took their valuables, including cell phones,” Kekana said, calling the attack “pure criminality.” Police launched a manhunt and appealed for public assistance.
Among the dead was a driver for an online ride-hailing service who was passing the scene, according to authorities. No arrests were immediately announced, and a motive was not clear.
The Bekkersdal shooting follows an attack on Dec. 6 at a tavern near Pretoria, where gunmen killed a dozen people, including a 3-year-old child. That venue operated as an unlicensed outlet in a hostel for migrant workers, police said. The dead in the Pretoria attack included children ages 3, 12 and 16.
South Africa, the continent’s most industrialized economy, is grappling with entrenched violent crime, much of it driven by organized gangs and competition in informal business sectors. Legal and illegal firearms are widespread, and bar and tavern attacks have become grimly familiar in recent years.
The latest killings add to a spate of high-profile shootings that have rattled Johannesburg and surrounding provinces in December. Last week, a popular former radio presenter known as DJ Warras — the 40-year-old Warris Stock — was shot dead in broad daylight on Dec. 16 outside a building he had visited as part of his work with a private security company.
On Dec. 5, a key witness in a corruption inquiry, 41-year-old Marius Van der Merwe, was fatally shot in front of his family weeks after testifying against a municipal police chief. His killing reignited debate over the safety of whistleblowers who provide information on crime and corruption, including cases implicating public-sector officials.
Police data underscore the scale of the problem: An average of 63 people were killed every day between April and September. While officials have rolled out periodic crime-combatting operations and gun amnesties, critics say enforcement is uneven and conviction rates for complex, organized offenses remain low.
In Bekkersdal, investigators combed the cordoned-off scene for shell casings and other forensic evidence as residents watched from behind police tape. Authorities urged anyone with information about the attackers to come forward.
The spree of tavern shootings — from Pretoria to the latest assault on the West Rand — has renewed questions about venue licensing, security and the ease with which heavily armed groups move through communities. For the families of those killed, however, the focus remains immediate: identifying loved ones and waiting for answers that have become agonizingly familiar.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
