PRETORIA and LONDON — At least 21 people were killed in a spate of shootings at bars across South Africa over the weekend, authorities said.
The deadliest incident occurred late Saturday night in Johannesburg’s Soweto township in Gauteng province. A group of unknown men armed with rifles and pistols entered a local tavern in the Nomzamo informal settlement in the Orlando East area of Soweto and “started shooting randomly at the patrons who were sitting inside,” according to the South African Police Service.
Twenty-three people were shot, of whom 12 were declared dead at the scene while the other 11 were rushed to a nearby hospital. Three more later died at the hospital, bringing the death toll from the incident to 16, according to police.
“One more victim was confirmed dead today at the hospital,” a police spokesperson said in a statement Tuesday. “The team of investigators working together with Crime Intelligence are on the ground to establish the motive and eventually arrest the perpetrators involved in this shooting.”
