An e-hailing driver who had just dropped off a client in Bekkersdal, west of Johannesburg, in the early hours of Sunday was among the nine people killed in a mass shooting that started at a tavern in the area.
Deputy provincial police commissioner Maj-Gen Fred Kekana said the driver was shot dead by the unknown gunmen as they were fleeing the scene and shooting randomly in the street after shooting patrons at the tavern.
“While police were at the tavern, and another team of police was at the clinic, another shooting occurred by the same suspects as they shot dead an e-hailing driver who had just dropped off a client,” Kekana said.
According to police, a group of armed men stormed into the KwaNoxolo tavern in Bekkersdal in the early hours of Sunday and randomly opened fire on patrons.
The assailants were travelling in a white Quantum and a grey Etios, police said.
Two females and seven males were killed.
Ten other people were injured in the attack.
Kekana said the tavern was licensed and operating within the prescribed time frame as per the licence conditions.
Police spokesperson Capt Tintswalo Sibeko said the shooting took place at KwaNoxolo Tavern in the Tambo section of Bekkersdal just before 1am on Sunday.
Some of the victims were shot in the street while attempting to flee the attack.
Emergency services responded to the scene and injured victims were transported to nearby medical facilities.
Kekana said according to preliminary findings nine of the suspects had pistols while one had an AK-47 rifle.
The Bekkersdal shooting is the second mass shooting in Gauteng this month, with another having occurred at the Saulsville hostel in Pretoria two weeks ago.
On December 6, gunmen attacked patrons at an illegal shebeen at the hostel, killing 12 people, including a three-year-old child. The motive for the attack is still unknown.
Sibeko said police had mobilised all the necessary resources, including forensic crime scene management and crime intelligence, to investigate the latest attack.
“The motive for the shooting will be determined by the investigation,” Sibeko said.
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