Gunmen slaughter tavern patrons
Gunmen shot and killed 15 people and wounded another nine inside a South African tavern in Soweto township early Sunday, local time.
The attackers entered the tavern in the Nomzamo informal settlement in Orlando East soon after midnight and opened fire on patrons, according to a police statement.
‘‘A group of men armed with rifles and 9mm pistols entered the tavern and started shooting randomly at the patrons who were sitting inside,’’ the statement said.
The shooting is the latest mass casualty event at a tavern in South Africa in recent weeks. On Saturday, four people were fatally shot and eight were wounded at a tavern in Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu-Natal Province.
The shootings come two weeks after 21 teenagers died at a tavern in the city of East London, in what officials are calling a possible poisoning. There is no indication that any of the mass casualty events are connected.
Police are investigating the motive behind the Soweto shooting.
Witnesses, who refused to give their names, told News24 that they ducked for cover and that some neighbours used their cars to transport victims to a hospital.
‘‘I thought they were shooting outside my house. I didn’t want to be caught by stray bullets. I heard people running in my yard,’’ one neighbour said. ‘‘Later, I went outside and saw five dead bodies outside the tavern,’’ she said. Another neighbour said gunshots were nothing new in the area at night but this time ‘‘it sounded like it was a war’’.
Mohau Molefe, local ward councillor, said he fears the shooting could inflame tensions between various ethnic groups in the area near Johannesburg.
‘‘This incident is going to spark a lot of unrest in this community because there are people who believe this could be associated with tribal wars,’’ Molefe told eNCA television network.
‘‘There are people from different ethnic groups staying in this community, and some have more rifles than others.
‘‘There is no clear motive of what could be the reasons that have led to 15 dead bodies in that space,’’ Molefe said. ‘‘We are all worried, we are all trembling. We are not sure what is going on.’’
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa urged communities and police to work together to halt violent crime in townships.
‘‘As a nation, we cannot allow violent criminals to terrorise us in this way, regardless of where such incidents may occur,’’ he said in a statement.