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South African police are in pursuit of a group of gunmen who stormed into a tavern late Friday night and opened fire, killing five people and injuring three more in a chilling attack near the capital.
The mass shooting occurred at around 10:30 p.m. local time in Olievenhoutbosch, a township roughly 25 kilometres south of Pretoria. According to authorities, about ten armed men entered the bar and “started shooting randomly without saying a word”.
Among the dead were three men and two women. The motive behind the attack remains a mystery. “The motive for the shooting is unknown at this stage,” police said in a statement issued Saturday.
Mass shootings like this have become tragically routine in South Africa, where the homicide rate hovers around 75 killings a day. Gun violence, often tied to gang activity and alcohol abuse, continues to plague communities across the country.
Though many South Africans legally own firearms for self-defence, the prevalence of illegal weapons has created a volatile environment. A national security strategy released earlier this week cautioned that criminal syndicates might soon begin wielding “more dangerous and sophisticated weapons”.
“If the problem of gangsterism is not addressed, gangs will continue to occupy social spaces and create no-go areas and in turn fuel vigilantism as (communities) attempt to reclaim spaces and protect themselves from crimes perpetrated by gangs,” the heavily redacted document warned.
According to the latest police data, South Africa recorded over 27,600 murders in the 2023–2024 financial year. The vast majority of victims were young black men living in urban areas.
