Police hunt gunmen after 2 mass shootings in South Africa leave at least
27 dead
[September 28, 2026]
By GERALD IMRAY
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Two separate mass shootings in South
African townships within hours of each other have left at least 27
people dead, police said on Sunday.
South Africa has struggled with violent crime for years, but recent
shooting incidents have shocked a country used to some of the highest
homicide rates in the world.
In the first attack, eight gunmen armed with AK-47 rifles and pistols
opened fire at a bar near Johannesburg late on Saturday. The South
African Police Service said 17 people were killed at the small venue in
Wedela township, southwest of South Africa's biggest city.
The attackers fired at patrons outside the bar before moving inside and
continuing to shoot. The victims included 13 men and four women, with at
least 15 other people injured, police said.
The gunmen searched some of the patrons and took their mobile phones
before escaping in two vehicles. Two cars were set alight outside the
bar during the shooting.
Around four hours later, 10 people were killed and 11 wounded in a
shooting at a store linked to what police described as an entertainment
venue in Lwandle township, near Cape Town, South Africa's second biggest
city. Police said they were searching for multiple suspects, though they
didn’t give an exact number.
No arrests have been made in either case. Police deployed specialized
units to both townships and surrounding areas in the hunt for the
gunmen.
The attacks came five days after another mass shooting in a township
near Durban killed at least 11 people, including a pregnant woman, when
multiple gunmen attacked a house party in KwaMakhutha township. Police
have not reported any arrests.
South Africa's gun violence problem
Wedela resident Siyabonga Nondabula said there had been shootings in the
area in the past involving illegal mining gangs, but none of them
targeted so many people.
“Seventeen people and (maybe) even more have died, this has never
happened here,” he said. "So I feel very sad and traumatized.”
A high rate of killings is a longstanding problem for Africa's most
advanced economy, but the phenomenon of mass shootings is becoming more
common, according to experts, with recent killings often being carried
out by multiple gunmen.
Gun homicides mostly affect South Africa's poorest communities in
townships and informal settlements made up of shacks and small homes on
the edges of many big cities. Police have linked some of the recent
shootings, including last week's house party killings near Durban, to
criminal gangs.
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Forensic officers and the army members are seen at scene of a mass
shooting on Saturday night when suspects opened fire at a bar in
Wedela township, southwest of Johannesburg, South Africa, Sunday,
Sept. 27, 2026. (AP Photo)
Other recent mass shootings include one in June in a poor
neighborhood of Johannesburg that killed 12 people, and two in the
space of two weeks in December that left a total of 21 people dead.
Soldiers deployed to help police fight crime
South Africa's violent crime problem prompted President Cyril
Ramaphosa to deploy soldiers on the streets in March in a yearlong
operation to combat crime in some of the country's worst-affected
areas. The deployment included high-crime areas around Johannesburg
and Cape Town, as well as other areas.
Announcing the deployment, Ramaphosa said crime by organized gangs
was the biggest threat to South Africa's democracy and economic
development. Some critics viewed the use of soldiers on the streets
as an admission that police were failing.
Soldiers were deployed Sunday to the scene of the bar shooting in
Wedela.
South Africa has on average 60 homicides a day
South Africa recorded 5,427 homicides in the three-months ending
June 30, an average of nearly 60 a day, according to police
statistics.
Shootings are the most common method of homicide in the country.
Police and crime experts have long identified the large number of
illegal firearms in circulation as a major problem.
Firearm ownership is legal in South Africa but heavily regulated and
subject to strict competency requirements. Estimates from political
parties and the country’s national gun owners association suggest
that between 2 million and 6 million illegal firearms are in
circulation. Those groups say the weapons are used in the vast
majority of gun homicides.
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