President Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday hit out at tavern murders that rocked the country over the past two days.
Ramaphosa in a statement said it was unacceptable that 15 people were mauled down at Soweto tavern and the murder of four people murdered at a drinking spot in Pietermaritzburg.
“As a nation, we cannot allow violent criminals to terrorise us in this way, regardless of where such incidents may occur. Every single violent death is unacceptable and worrying, and killings on the scale we have seen in Soweto, Pietermaritzburg and previously Khayelitsha must spur us into a collective effort to build communities and make South Africa an unsafe place for criminals,” he said.
The country woke up to shocking news that fifteen people were gunned down at Nomzamo tavern while eight are said to be fighting for their lives in hospital. In KwaZulu-Natal, four people were mauled down at a tavern, while eight were rushed to hospital. The reason for the shooting is not yet known.
Gauteng’s top cop Elias Mawela told tv station eNCA that detectives estimate that the ages of the deceased range between 19 and 35 years. “Yes I can confirm that incident did happen and it happened around 12:30am this morning. Primary investigations suggest the people were enjoying themselves in the tavern. They (suspects) just came in and shot at them randomly,” the provincial commissioner told the news channel.
As the country was still coming to terms with the two shootings in Soweto and , news emerged that there was another tavern shooting in Katlehong, east of Johannesburg which claimed two lives.
Gauteng Premier David Makhura in a statement condemned the two shootings in the province.
“We condemn in the strongest terms possible the senseless killing of so many people. We call on the law enforcement agencies to leave no stone unturned to ensure that the perpetrators are arrested and brought to book,” he said.
The three tavern shootings come just weeks after twenty-one school-going teenagers died at the tavern in Scenery Park, East London, where they had converged to celebrate the end of term two of the school calendar. The cause of their deaths has not yet been determined.
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