Local authorities reported that several people were also hurt.
Gauteng Police stated that the incident occurred shortly after midnight. A group of men with rifles and 9 millimeter pistols entered the Nomzamo informal settlement in Johannesburg and began shooting randomly at the patrons.
Police reported that 23 people were injured in the shooting. 12 of these victims died instantly, and 11 were taken to the nearest hospital. At the hospital, at least two additional people were reported as dead.
Police say the suspects are still at large and have requested witnesses to help them.
“It’s a horrible scene. You can see the bodies. [that]are piled up, so you can see that each one of them is [was]”Struggling to get out the tavern,” Gauteng police commissioner Elias Mawela said to South African news channel ENCA.
Mawela stated that the police have yet to establish the motives or the reasons why the people in the tavern were targeted.
He added, “I have no doubt this case can be cracked with the help of the community.”
“Every single violent death must be rejected”
Four other people were also shot in an incident that occurred in Sweetwaters in Pietermaritzburg Saturday evening. Police confirmed this Sunday.
Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi was the Provincial Commissioner for KwaZulu–Natal. He stated that 12 people were shot when two men entered a tavern and “randomly started fire.”
Similar to the Soweto shooting shooting, police stated that the suspects are still at large and that an investigation was underway.
According to SABC: South African National Civic Organisation in Gauteng urged the government to increase gun regulations in the wake the violence.
According to a statement released by his office on Saturday, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa also expressed condolences to those who lost their loved ones in the attacks.
Ramaphosa stated, “As a nation we cannot allow violent criminals terrorise us in such a way regardless of where such incidents might occur.”
He stated that “every single violent death is unacceptable” and was worried about the killings in Pietermaritzburg, Soweto and Khayelitsha. These deaths must motivate us to work together to make South Africa a safer place for criminals and build communities.
CNN’s Hira Humidan contributed to this report.
