Two South African shootings kill 27 as police hunt attackers

• Wedela’s 17 dead included 13 men and four women; 15 people were wounded, police said.¹
• In Lwandle, 10 people were killed and 11 wounded at an entertainment venue selling grilled meat.²
• Sunday morning reports said no arrests had been made. Police were seeking eight suspects in Wedela and had formed a specialist team for Lwandle.³
• A separate shooting in Khayelitsha killed four people on Saturday evening; those deaths are not included in the 27-person total.⁴

Gunmen attacked a tavern in Extension 3, Wedela, west of Johannesburg, at about 9.30pm on Saturday, 26 September. Police said they first shot at patrons outside, then entered and continued firing. The attackers reportedly took some patrons’ mobile phones and fled in two unidentified vehicles. Two vehicles were set alight.¹

Emergency medical services declared all 17 Wedela victims dead at the scene. The 15 wounded were taken to medical facilities. Police said eight unidentified armed men were being sought.¹

At about 1.46am on Sunday, 27 September, gunmen opened fire at an entertainment venue selling grilled meat in Lwandle, near Cape Town. Five victims died at the scene and five after being taken to medical facilities; 11 others were receiving treatment. Western Cape police established a multidisciplinary team led by serious and violent crime detectives.²

The attacks took place in different provinces. Reports published Sunday had not established a motive for either shooting or confirmed whether the cases were connected.⁵

Days earlier, a separate shooting at a home in KwaMakhutha, KwaZulu-Natal, had killed 11 people and injured three, according to the government.⁶

Footnotes

1. Sowetan; eNCA. ↩ ↩² ↩³

2. Sowetan; eNCA. ↩ ↩²

3. Reuters, republished by Citizen Digital; Sowetan on Wedela; Sowetan on Lwandle. ↩

4. eNCA. ↩

5. Sowetan on Wedela; Sowetan on Lwandle; CBS News / AFP. ↩

6. Government of South Africa; The Guardian. ↩