According to the South African Police Service, 12 people died at the scene. A total of 15 are now dead, while seven victims remain in a critical condition, The Guardian reported. As the Associated Press reported, police are investigating a report that alleged gunmen approached the tavern – identified by a local government official as Mdlalose’s in Nomzamo settlement in Soweto township – in a minibus and opened fire on bar patrons. According to the police commissioner, the number of cartridges found suggests that the gunmen opened fire inside the tavern, a claim corroborated by witnesses. “[The gunman] he didn’t say anything and opened fire,” a witness told News24, who says the shooting lasted for about 10 minutes. “My friend and others in the pool scrambling for cover. He sprayed them with bullets… Four dead were lying near me.” A national police spokeswoman said the suspects, who remain at large, used rifles and a 9mm pistol in the mass attack, in which police say people were attacked “at random”. At this time, police do not know a motive.
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Officials carry the body of a victim on a stretcher.
Ihsan Haffejee/Getty Images
The initial investigation suggests, officials said, that the tavern was operating legally and that all of the victims were of legal drinking age. According to the police commissioner, many were shot while trying to run out of the tavern. However, compiling a full account of the attack is proving difficult, as the tavern was dark when the shooting occurred and witnesses were trying to identify the suspects. The Nomzamo settlement is one of the poorest in Soweto, a relatively affluent township on the outskirts of Johannesburg. A spokesman for the national police said the municipality has long been a source of difficulty for the police as there is no electricity. Thabiso Letlojane, 31, is a lifelong resident of Nomzamo and told the Guardian he was at the bar just hours before the attack. “It’s just a normal pub,” he told the outlet. “It was very quiet at night…It just shows that no one is safe, especially in this area. People are shooting all the time, every day every night. You can’t sleep without hearing the sound of guns.” Although South Africa’s murder rate decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic, it increased in the final months of 2021. On Saturday, police say another shooting at a bar in the city of Pietermaritzburg killed four people and injured eight others. Two weeks ago, 21 teenagers died under unclear circumstances in a tavern.
