More than fifteen people have been shot dead in two separate incidents at taverns in Soweto, Gauteng and Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal.
In Soweto, 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.
This is a developing story. The story has been updated to reflect the increase in deaths in the Soweto shooting and to include the Ekurhuleni (Katlehong) shooting.
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