South Africa Tallies 38 Dead in 3 Mass Shootings as Gangs and Illegal Mining Drive Violence
Updated
Updated · Orlando Sentinel · Sep 27
South Africa Tallies 38 Dead in 3 Mass Shootings as Gangs and Illegal Mining Drive Violence
3 articles · Updated · Orlando Sentinel · Sep 27
Summary
At least 38 people were killed and nearly 30 wounded in three late-night mass shootings across South Africa in six days, including two attacks hours apart near Johannesburg and Cape Town over the weekend.
Eight gunmen with AK-47s and pistols killed 17 people at a Wedela bar, multiple suspects killed 10 at a Lwandle venue, and three attackers killed 11 at a KwaMakhutha house party near Durban.
Police say the attacks fit a pattern of gang-linked violence, with the Wedela massacre possibly a revenge hit in an area plagued by illegal mining gangs tied to the illicit gold trade.
Seven mass shootings have drawn national headlines since December, mostly in poor townships where weak policing, illegal guns and stark inequality leave communities far more exposed than affluent suburbs.
President Cyril Ramaphosa deployed soldiers in March for a yearlong anti-crime operation focused partly on illegal mining gangs, a move welcomed by some residents but seen by critics as proof police have failed.