South Africa Bar Shooting Leaves 11 Dead, Children Among Victims

A mass shooting at an unlicensed bar near South Africa’s administrative capital left at least 11 people dead early Saturday, including three children aged 3, 12 and 16, authorities said. Fourteen others were wounded and taken to hospital.

The attack occurred inside a bar operating within a hostel in the Saulsville township west of Pretoria. Ten victims died at the scene, while one later succumbed to injuries in hospital.

Police said they are searching for three male suspects who entered the bar and opened fire indiscriminately on a group of patrons. The motive for the attack remains unclear. The shooting took place around 4:15 a.m., but law enforcement was only alerted about two hours later.

South Africa continues to battle high levels of violent crime, recording more than 26,000 homicides in 2024. Firearms — many of them illegal — are the leading cause of death in these cases. Authorities say mass shootings at unlicensed bars have become increasingly common, prompting the shutdown of more than 11,000 illegal taverns and the arrest of over 18,000 people for illicit liquor trade between April and September this year.

Recent mass killings in the country have not been limited to bars. In one incident last year, 18 people — including 15 women — were killed in two homes along the same road in Eastern Cape province. Police later arrested seven suspects and recovered several assault rifles believed to have been used in the attack.