Twenty-seven people have been killed in two separate mass shootings in South Africa, with the attacks occurring just hours apart in Johannesburg and Cape Town.
Seventeen people were killed on Saturday evening after eight gunmen reportedly stormed a bar near Johannesburg and opened fire on patrons. Fifteen others sustained injuries in the attack.
Police said 13 men and four women were among those killed in the Johannesburg shooting.
The attackers reportedly fired at people outside the bar before moving inside and later setting two vehicles ablaze as they escaped.
Gauteng Police Commissioner, Lt Gen Tommy Mthombeni, said nationals of Ethiopia and Lesotho were among those caught up in the attack, although most of the victims were South Africans.
Mthombeni said police suspected robbery as a possible motive because some personal belongings were taken from the victims.
However, he added that investigators had not ruled out a possible turf dispute involving illegal mining groups.
Earlier, deputy provincial police commissioner, Maj Gen Fred Kekana, said the shooting could have been carried out in retaliation for an incident last month in which one person was killed and another injured.
Kekana said police had obtained clear photographs and, in some instances, the names of the suspects.
In the second attack, 10 people were killed outside an entertainment venue in a township near Cape Town in the early hours of Sunday.
Police said five victims died at the scene, while another five died after being taken to hospital. Eleven others were injured.
No arrests had been made in connection with either shooting as of Sunday morning.
The latest attacks came only days after 11 people were killed when gunmen invaded a house in the KwaMakhutha township in Durban.
South Africa has continued to battle high levels of gun violence and organised crime, with police recording about 60 murders daily in the country of 62 million people.
Recent mass shootings have heightened concerns over violence linked to gang rivalries, drug trafficking and illegal mining activities.
In February, President Cyril Ramaphosa described organised crime as “the most immediate threat to our democracy, our society and our economic development”.
The government has also deployed the military alongside police in areas recording some of the country’s highest murder rates as part of efforts to curb armed violence.
