- The Wedela tavern shooting death toll has risen to 18 as police hunt eight gunmen linked to the massacre.
- Another 14 people were killed in Khayelitsha and Lwandle as concerns grow over illegal guns and organised crime.
Families of those killed in the Wedela mass shooting will begin the painful task of identifying their loved ones on Tuesday.
The death toll from Saturday night’s attack in Carletonville rose to 18 on Monday after another victim died from their injuries.
One family lost two relatives in the shooting and another family member remains missing.
Police are still searching for eight gunmen linked to the attack.
Operation Prosper has been deployed to step up operations in the area as investigators try to find the attackers and establish what led to the shooting.
The Wedela massacre was part of a bloody final weekend of September.
A total of 32 people were killed in three separate shootings.
Four people were shot dead in Mthuma Street, Site C, Khayelitsha on Saturday.
Another 10 people were killed in Lwandle in the Western Cape early on Sunday morning.
Julian Rademeyer from the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime said the trend in mass killings was closely linked to organised crime.
“A major concern is the violence that comes with these attacks,” he said.
In Wedela, gunmen armed with AK-47s opened fire at a tavern.
Rademeyer said South Africa was flooded with illegal guns entering circulation through several channels.
“There are leakages and thefts from state stockpiles, from the police, from SAPS-13 evidence stores, from the SANDF. We’ve got leakages from the security industry. That’s excluding weapons that are in circulation.”
He also raised concerns about AK-style weapons coming from outside South Africa and being smuggled to gangs in the Western Cape.
Rademeyer said fighting violent crime would require more police officers on the ground and stronger crime intelligence.
He said organised crime included illegal gold mining, extortion, gangs, the drug trade and taxi violence.
“They’re operating with almost complete impunity walking into a tavern in the morning with AK-47s and opening fire on a crowd without any care of who is caught up in that gunfire.”
Police statistics show the murder rate has declined, but Rademeyer said recent mass shootings appeared to be becoming more brutal.
He said 44 people were killed in four attacks during September. At least 32 people were killed in eight attacks in August and about 27 died in seven attacks in July.
Meanwhile, Gauteng police are investigating the death of a man linked to the murder of 23-year-old Boitumelo Gift Mashita in Thembisa.
Mashita was shot dead while walking to work on Monday morning.
Police initially said her belongings were taken during what they described as a robbery.
Her family questioned whether robbery was the motive. Her uncle, MC Khoza, said the family was following its own leads involving a disagreement between Mashita and her partner.
Police later identified Mashita’s estranged husband as a person of interest and began searching for him.
His vehicle was found in the Midrand policing area with his body inside.
Investigators believe he may have swallowed an unknown substance. Police said they do not suspect foul play at this stage.
A post-mortem examination will determine his cause of death.
Gauteng police spokesperson Brenda Muridili said: “He was identified as a person of interest in the case, and the SAPS Tembisa Tracking Team had been tracing him. No foul play is suspected at this stage.”
Police have opened an inquest into his death and are continuing to investigate Mashita’s murder.
Police said there was no early evidence linking Mashita’s killing to other murders in the area.
