Armed gunmen open fire in South Africa tavern, killing 9 people

BEKKERSDAL, South Africa (UPI) — Nearly a dozen armed gunmen stormed a tavern in South Africa early Sunday and opened fire at random, killing at least nine people, reports said.

Nearly a dozen assailants arrived around 1 a.m. local time Sunday at the KwaNoxolo tavern in Bekkersdal, some 30 miles west of Johannesburg, in a white van and silver sedan, The New York Times reported.

The men then opened fire at random at the people inside, Police Captain Tintswalo Sibeko said in a statement. At least ten people who were injured taken to a local hospital.

The suspects were reported to have used at least nine pistols and an AK-47-style assault rifle, ABC News reported.

Related

• South Africa arrests 7 undocumented Kenyans processing U.S. visas
• South African DJ Warras shot dead in Johannesburg
• Nigeria on alert after 2nd mass school student kidnapping this week

The motive for the shooting was not immediately clear, but witnesses told police the suspects allegedly searched the bodies of the dead and injured, stealing valuables, including cellphones.

Police have not yet identified the suspects, spokeswoman Athlenda Mathe said in a statement to The New York Times.

Similar mass shootings at taverns have occurred in South Africa in recent years, often late at night and involving heavily armed attackers.

In 2022, a shooting at a tavern in Johannesburg left 15 people dead while another four people were killed in another tavern near the city of Pietermaritzburg, police said.

A group of men armed with rifles and 9mm pistols entered Mdlalose’s tavern in Soweto, a neighborhood of Johannesburg, just after midnight and “started shooting randomly” at patrons sitting inside.

Taverns, often referred to locally as shebeens, are informal social gathering places that have a license to serve alcohol and play a central role in many South African communities.

Adam Schrader, United Press International

+ postsBio

Adam Schrader reports breaking news for UPI, drawing on more than a decade chasing crime, chaos, and culture from New York City tabloids to the art world. His bylines have earned millions of views and appeared in the New York Post, New York Daily News, and Artnet News, among other outlets. He holds a master’s in journalism from the University of North Texas.