At least 27 people have been killed in two separate mass shootings in South Africa in the space of a few hours, with 17 dead at a tavern west of Johannesburg and 10 more at an entertainment venue outside Cape Town. Police have opened murder cases in both provinces and launched manhunts, but no arrests had been made by Sunday morning.
What Happened in Wedela
The first and deadliest attack happened at around 21:30 local time on Saturday, 26 September, at a tavern in Extension 3, Wedela, in the West Rand District of Gauteng, southwest of Johannesburg.
According to Reuters, eight unidentified men armed with AK-47 rifles and pistols opened fire on patrons outside the tavern before forcing their way inside and continuing to shoot. Emergency medical services declared 17 people dead at the scene — 13 men and four women — while 15 wounded patrons were taken to hospital.
The gunmen searched the patrons and took their cellphones before fleeing the scene in two unidentified vehicles, according to CNN. Two vehicles were torched during the attack.
Police have not confirmed a motive. A South African Police Service (SAPS) statement posted on X was among the first official accounts of the incident, and Gauteng police spokesperson Capt. Tintswalo Sibeko and Brig. Brenda Muridili have been briefing media on the investigation.
The Wedela police have opened 17 counts of murder, 15 counts of attempted murder and two counts of malicious damage to property. A manhunt for the eight gunmen was launched on Sunday, 27 September.
Hours Later in Cape Town
A second mass shooting struck just hours later. At around 01:46 local time on Sunday, 27 September (23:46 GMT Saturday), gunmen entered a shisanyama — an entertainment venue selling braaied meat — in Lwandle, a township outside Cape Town, and shot patrons inside.
Ten people were killed: five died at the scene and five later in hospital, according to NovaNews. A further 11 people were hospitalised with gunshot wounds.
Western Cape police spokesperson Brig. Novela Potelwa confirmed the attack, and IOL reported that provincial commissioner Lt-Gen Sizakhele Dyantyi has set up a specialist team of serious and violent crime detectives to investigate. The Lwandle police have opened murder and attempted-murder cases, and the identities of the victims are being withheld until next of kin have been informed.
No arrests had been made by Sunday morning, and police have given no motive for the attack.
Police Response and Manhunts
Police in both provinces are treating the shootings as major investigations. The eight Wedela gunmen remain at large, with the Gauteng manhunt launched on Sunday, while the specialist detective team in the Western Cape is working to identify the Lwandle attackers.
The two attacks have not been described as connected or coordinated by any source and are being investigated separately. They coincided only in time, striking within hours of each other on the same night.
A Country Under Gun Crime
The overnight killings are the latest in a grim series of mass shootings in South Africa, a country of about 62 million people struggling with some of the highest murder rates in the world. Police figures show an average of about 58 murders a day between January and March 2026, according to CNN.
Just days earlier, at least 11 people were killed when three gunmen opened fire at a house party in KwaMakhutha, south of Durban, on Tuesday 22 September. Police said they believed one of the victims was a pregnant woman, and have not ruled out a rival-group feud as a possible motive there. In June 2026, 12 people were killed at an informal settlement in a Johannesburg suburb.
The violence prompted President Cyril Ramaphosa to deploy soldiers to crime hotspots in Johannesburg in March 2026, according to Dawn (AFP). In his February 2026 state-of-the-nation address, Ramaphosa warned that “organised crime is now the most immediate threat to our democracy, our society and our economic development.”
AFP notes that shootings in South Africa are often fuelled by gang rivalry and competition between informal businesses — a general observation about the country’s gun crime, not an attribution for these specific attacks, for which police have confirmed no motive.
What’s Next
This is a developing story. The manhunts in Gauteng and the Western Cape are ongoing, and police are expected to release further details as the investigations progress, including the identities of the victims once their families have been notified.
Authorities have urged anyone with information about either attack to come forward. Further updates will be published as more confirmed details emerge.
