Bekkersdal, South Africa

December 21, 2025 - 09:03 AM (UTC + 0)

Gunmen opened fire in a bar near Johannesburg, killing nine people and injuring 10, South African police announced Sunday, the second such massacre in the country this month.

The shooting took place on Sunday around 01:00 (Saturday around 23:00 GMT) in a "tavern" - an illegal bar - and then in the middle of the street in Bekkersdal, a poor township located in a gold mining area some 40 kilometers southwest of Johannesburg, the economic capital of South Africa.

This tragedy follows a similar shooting on December 6, when gunmen stormed a workers' hostel in Pretoria, killing 11 people including a three-year-old child in a place that police said housed another informal bar.

In Bekkersdal, "some victims were shot at random in the street by unidentified gunmen," police wrote in a statement, initially reporting 10 people killed before revising their toll to nine dead.

Most of the attackers were armed with pistols and one of them was carrying an AK-47 submachine gun, Deputy Provincial Police Commissioner Fred Kekana told SABC television at the scene.

"They entered the bar and opened fire randomly on the customers," he said.

- Killed and then robbed -

Three people were killed inside the facility and others were injured while trying to escape, with the attackers continuing to shoot at them as they fled, he added.

"It also appears that after shooting the victims, they searched them. They stole their valuables, including their mobile phones," Mr. Kekana said.

Among the dead was a ride-hailing driver who was driving past the bar.

"This is pure and simple crime," lamented Mr. Kekana. Police have launched a manhunt for the attackers and are appealing to the public for help.

South Africa, the continent's most industrialized country, is grappling with endemic crime and corruption, fueled by organized networks and gangs.

The country is full of firearms, legal and especially illegal, and shootings are frequent, often fueled by rivalry between gangs and competition between informal businesses.

- Serial killings -

The bar targeted in an attack in Pretoria earlier this month was an illegal establishment located in a migrant workers' hostel in the Saulsville township. Among the victims were children aged 3, 12, and 16.

The country was also shocked by the assassination, on December 16 in broad daylight, in central Johannesburg, of a popular former radio host, Warris Stock, known as DJ Warras, who was shot dead outside a building where he had gone as part of his work for a private security company.

In another high-profile murder, a witness in a corruption investigation was shot dead in front of his family on December 5, a few weeks after testifying against a municipal police chief.

The murder of Marius Van der Merwe, 41, has reignited a debate on targeting whistleblowers who provide information on crime and corruption, including in the public sector and cases involving government officials.

South Africa has one of the highest homicide rates in the world. Between April and September, approximately 63 people were killed every day in the country of 63 million inhabitants, according to data from the South African police.

In September 2024, in one of the deadliest recent shootings, 18 members of the same family were killed on an isolated farm in the Eastern Cape province.

The victims, gathered for a traditional ceremony, were aged between 14 and 64, including 15 women. Several men have been arrested.

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© Agence France-Presse