Gunman Opens Fire on Mourners in South Africa

At least two men were killed and five people injured when a gunman opened fire on mourners leaving a memorial service in South Africa, police said on Wednesday.

The shooting occurred on Tuesday night in Katlehong township, southeast of Johannesburg. At least one of the wounded was a child, police said.

The suspected gunman was in custody after turning himself in, while a political killings task team was investigating the attack, the South African Police Service said in a statement.

Local media reported that the two men killed were members of the youth league of the African National Congress (ANC), South Africa’s largest party in parliament.

The reports said the mourners had attended a memorial service for a woman who was a local ANC leader and was fatally shot earlier this month in a killing suspected to have been politically motivated.

Police did not immediately confirm the identities of those killed, saying only that the victims had attended a memorial for a “member of a political party”.

South Africa has high levels of gun violence, including shootings linked to local political rivalries.

A report published earlier this month by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime identified 43 killings in the country this year suspected of being politically motivated.

South Africa is due to hold local elections on November 4, when voters will elect municipal councils across the country.