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At least 27 people were killed in two mass shootings in South Africa within hours of each other, according to Reuters. The attacks left a further 26 people injured, while police had made no arrests by Sunday morning.
Seventeen people died on Saturday evening when eight gunmen stormed a bar near Johannesburg. Fifteen others were injured in the attack.
Police said the attackers first opened fire on customers outside the venue before continuing the assault inside. They then set two vehicles alight and fled the scene.
Thirteen men and four women were killed in the Johannesburg shooting. Authorities said the motive remained unclear.
Ten killed near Cape Town
In a separate incident in the early hours of Sunday, 10 people were killed outside an entertainment venue in a township near Cape Town. Another 11 people were injured.
Five victims died at the scene, while five others later died in hospital. Armed security forces were deployed to the area as police investigated the attack.
Authorities have not indicated a motive for either shooting.
South Africa faces persistent gun violence
The shootings came days after 11 people were killed in Durban when gunmen stormed a house in the KwaMakhutha township.
South Africa has one of the world’s highest murder rates and has struggled for years to contain gang-related gun violence. Illegal weapons are widespread, and about 60 murders are recorded each day in the country of 62 million people.
A recent series of mass shootings has heightened concerns that the violence is worsening. Such attacks are often linked to turf wars between gangs involved in drug trafficking and illegal mining.
In February, President Cyril Ramaphosa described organised crime as “the most immediate threat to our democracy, our society and our economic development”. Earlier this year, the military was deployed alongside police in areas with the country’s highest murder rates in an effort to curb armed violence.
