South African tavern shooting death toll rises to 18 after one more victim dies

Emergency personnel cordon off an area next to burnt vehicles at the site of a deadly shooting at a tavern in Wedela township, southwest of Johannesburg, South Africa, September 27, 2026.

Emergency personnel cordon off an area next to burnt vehicles at the site of a deadly shooting at a tavern in Wedela township, southwest of Johannesburg, South Africa, September 27, 2026.(REUTERS/Oupa Nkosi )


1 photo
Save Story

Estimated read time: Less than a minute

JOHANNESBURG, Sept 28 — The death toll from a ​tavern shooting over the weekend near Johannesburg has risen to 18 after another ‌victim died in hospital, South African police said on ⁠Monday.

The shooting happened ​late on Saturday ⁠when suspects armed with AK-47 rifles ‌opened fire at ‌the tavern in Wedela township, about ⁠80 km (50 miles) ⁠west of Johannesburg.

Police said in a statement that four of those killed had so far been identified: two South Africans and two nationals of Lesotho.

Violent crime ‌remains a major challenge ​in South Africa despite efforts to curb one of the world's highest per-capita murder rates.

Police are still searching for the perpetrators of the shooting but said they managed to get clear pictures of ​them. One line of inquiry is ‌that the ‌incident ⁠was part of a turf war between the heavily armed gangs that control the illegal gold-mining trade in the area.

Authorities are ‌also investigating another ​weekend shooting near Cape ‌Town in which ⁠10 ​people were killed.

(Reporting by Sfundo Parakozov;Editing by Alexander ​Winning)

Photos

Most recent World stories

Related topics

STAY IN THE KNOW

Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Notice.
Newsletter Signup

KSL Weather Forecast

KSL Weather Forecast
Play button