Separate mass shootings in South Africa townships leave at least 27 people dead

Two separate mass shootings near South Africa’s two biggest cities killed at least 27 people, police said Sunday.

The South African Police Service said 17 people were killed Saturday night when eight suspects armed with AK-47 rifles and pistols opened fire at a bar in Wedela township, southwest of Johannesburg. At least 15 others sustained gunshot injuries in that attack, police said.

Emergency medical services declared the 13 males and 4 females dead at the scene, and the motive for the shooting was not known, the South African Police Service said in a statement posted on X.

“Suspects were reportedly armed with AK-47 rifles and pistols,” the statement said of the shooting, which occurred around 9:30 p.m. (1930 GMT) on Saturday in Gauteng province.

In a separate statement, police said 10 people were killed in a mass shooting at a store in Lwandle, near Cape Town, around 1 a.m. Sunday. Another 11 were wounded in that shooting. Police said they were searching for multiple suspects in that case also, though they didn’t give an exact number.

BREAKING: A bloody weekend in South Africa leaves 27 dead after two separate overnight mass shootings. Gunmen killed 17 at a Wedela tavern near Johannesburg, while a separate attack in Cape Town's Lwandle township left 10 dead.https://t.co/dOr41GxiV9 pic.twitter.com/MNkgY1AkrY

— HINT News (@9415st) September 27, 2026

The two shootings come just days after a mass shooting by three gunmen at a house party near the east coast city of Durban killed 11 people, including a pregnant woman.

No arrests had been made in the two latest mass shootings, police said.

South Africa has struggled with high rates of violent crime for years, but the series of mass shootings this week was shocking even to a country used to some of the highest violent crime rates in the world.