LANGUAGE:
Translating…
Arthur Greene
Last weekend, the murders of at least 23 people in mass shootings at four separate taverns rocked a nation still grieving the deaths of 21 youths at the Enyobeni tavern in East London.
Then, in a week in which the country marked one year on from the devastating unrest last July, yet more tavern killings and mass shootings hit the country.
Here are the killings which marked a dark week in the history of South Africa:
- Friday 8 July: Two people were shot dead and four more were injured in a shooting at a tavern in Katlehong township. No one has been arrested in connection with the killings.
- Saturday 9 July: Five gunmen walked into a crowded tavern in Orlando East, Soweto and opened fire on the patrons. Twelve were killed at the scene and four more died later in hospital. At least 23 others were injured. The assailants are yet to be arrested.
- Saturday 9 July: About 500 km away at a tavern in Pietermaritzburg, four people were killed and eight injured when two men opened fire on patrons at random.
- Saturday 9 July: Three people, including an 18-year-old pupil, died when unknown men shot randomly at them near a tavern in Mathole informal settlement outside Roodepoort.
- Monday 11 July: One person was shot dead at a crowded tavern in Mamelodi, Pretoria.
- Wednesday 13 July: Two people were shot and killed by a gang of armed robbers in Alexandra township. Their killing spree was only just getting going.
- Thursday 14 July: The Alexandra gang shot dead six more people after robbing them, bringing the total to eight over two days.
- Saturday 16 July: Five people were gunned down and two seriously injured at another mass shooting, this time in the Thembelihle informal settlement at Lenasia, south of Johannesburg.
- Saturday 16 July: Five people were shot dead in different parts of Cape Town. Three men were killed at a street corner in Khayelitsha while two were murdered in an unrelated incident in Harare township.
Police Minister Bheki Cele revealed in June that between January and March alone, at least 6,083 people were murdered in South Africa. The list provided in this article may not be complete but demonstrates the shocking rise in tavern and mass shootings in the country over nine days.
