A gunmen attack on a small Johannesburg‑area bar left nine people dead and at least ten others wounded early on Sunday morning, police said. The incident took place just before 1 a.m. in Bekkersdal, a township about 28 miles west of the city, according to the South African Police Service (SAPS).
The shooting began when a group of unknown assailants—about a dozen men in a white minibus and a silver sedan—stormed the KwaNoxolo tavern in Bekkersdal’s Tambo section. They fired into the crowds and then spread through the streets, shooting at random as they fled. “Some victims were randomly shot in the streets by unknown gunmen,” the police released in a statement.
Authorities noted that the attackers wore balaclavas and carried an AK‑47 rifle along with several 9‑mm pistols. The attacks came just weeks after another bar‑related blaze that killed at least 12 people and injured 13 others a month earlier in the country’s capital region. Overall, the country has seen a string of violent gun incidents involving public watering holes, often called shebeens or taverns in South Africa.
One of the people hit hard by the early‑morning carnage was an e‑hailing driver who had just dropped off a rider. Police spokesperson Brigadier Brenda Muridili confirmed that the driver was shot and killed. “He was shot and killed,” she told The Associated Press.
The nine deceased victims and those who were hospitalized have not yet been named. The police are calling on anyone with information to step forward. The Gauteng Serious and Violent Crime Investigations unit, working together with the Crime Detection Tracing Unit, has taken up the manhunt for the gunmen.
This tragedy follows several other violent episodes over the past months. In 2022, a mass shooting in Soweto, a Johannesburg township, claimed 16 lives. More recently, a bar in another province was the site of a shooting that left four people dead.
South Africa’s homicide statistics remain alarmingly high. The country recorded nearly 26,000 homicides in 2024—over 70 a day on average—and firearms account for the vast majority of murders. While the nation has strict gun‑control regulations—its parliament passed the Firearms Control Act in 1992—the majority of killings involve illegal weapons. With a population of about 62 million, the country’s overall homicide rate remains one of the highest in the world.
As authorities continue to investigate and hunt down those responsible, the incident serves as another stark reminder of the persistent gun‑related violence that plagues South Africa’s communities.
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