Perpetrators fire indiscriminately: 19 dead after shootings in bars in South Africa

Violent crime is currently on the rise in South Africa. In two bars, gunmen are now apparently shooting indiscriminately. 19 people lose their lives, 19 others are still struggling with their injuries. Again, the victims are young people.

19 people have been killed in a shootout at two bars in South Africa. In Soweto, a suburb of Johannesburg, 15 people died. Shortly thereafter, police reported another attack on a bar in Pietermaritzburg in the east of the country, killing four. Both times, the perpetrators shot indiscriminately, according to the police.

Soweto is the largest township of Johannesburg. The act of violence happened during the night, said Elias Mawela, head of the Gauteng provincial police. The officers found twelve bodies at the crime scene, and two other people later succumbed to their injuries.

Shortly after midnight, the perpetrators came to the bar in a slum area and opened fire, Mawela explained at a press conference. They shot indiscriminately, so far nothing can be said about the motives. According to a report by the ENCA television station, a witness reported that the perpetrators were masked and fled in a car.

According to Mawela, two of the eleven surviving injured are in critical condition. The victims are said to be between 19 and 35 years old. In the morning, investigators were still busy at the scene with their investigations.

The crime in Pietermaritzburg happened on Saturday evening, said local police spokesman Nqobile Gwala. Eight other people were injured. When a group had a drink together in a bar, a car was parked in front of it. “Two men jumped out of the car, went into the bar and opened fire on the guests at random,” the spokesman said. According to the information, the fatalities are people between the ages of 30 and 34 years.

Murders and other violent crimes have increased sharply in South Africa this year, South Africa’s Police Minister Bheki Cele said in early June. According to police statistics, 6,083 people were killed between January and March – a good 22 percent more than in the same period last year.