Gunmen kill nine in South Africa tavern attack

abdulmanannet77@gmail.comDecember 21, 2025

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Gunmen kill nine in South Africa tavern attack

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A manhunt is underway after a shooting at a tavern in South Africa left nine dead and ten injured.

Police said seven men and two women were killed in Bekkersdal, near Johannesburg, after a dozen unidentified gunmen arrived in two vehicles and opened fire on customers.

The shooting occurred around 1:00 a.m. local time on Sunday (11:00 p.m. GMT Saturday) and the perpetrators “continued shooting randomly as [people] fled the scene,” police added.

South Africa has one of the highest murder rates in the world. Sixty-three people were killed every day on average between April and September this year, according to police figures.

Murders are often the result of arguments, thefts and gang violence. The motive for this attack is unclear.

At the scene, the deputy commissioner of the provincial police, Major General Fred Kekana, told the Newzroom Afrika television channel that the perpetrators, armed with pistols and an AK-47, were “unprovoked”.

“The poor customers were having fun when people came to shoot,” he said.

Two of the victims were shot dead outside the tavern as they fled and the third was a taxi driver who had dropped off a passenger nearby, Major General Kekana added.

Members of the South African Police Service's forensic services in white and blue overalls gesture at the scene of an attack. They point to a pile of clothes on the muddy ground. — The police conducted an investigation at the tavern [AFP via Getty Images]

Speaking to Newzroom Afrika, a resident described how gunfire had become a common occurrence at night in Bekkersdal.

“Criminals do whatever they want here,” the anonymous man said.

“These weapons, they ring out every evening… from dusk, we know that shots will ring out and they will ring out with violence.

“It’s terrorizing our communities.”

There are about three million legally owned firearms in South Africa, but there are at least the same number of unlicensed weapons in circulation in the country of 63 million people, according to statistics cited by Gideon Joubert of the South African Gun Owners Association.

Earlier this month, at least 11 people – including a child – were shot dead at a hostel near Pretoria.