Headlines

Breaking: Two people have been arrested in connection with South African bar shootings.

Published

3 months ago

July 12, 2022

Authorities in Pretoria have arrested two people in connection with one of the two shootings that shook South Africa over the weekend.

Unknown assailants opened fire on Saturday night, apparently at random, on patrons of two bars, one in Soweto, a Johannesburg suburb (15 dead), and the other in Pietermaritzburg, in Zulu country, in the east (4 dead).

The Ministry of Home Affairs said in a statement announcing the two arrests that it was a “first step toward holding to account all those who organized the country’s deadliest weekend.”

According to Lirandzu Themba, a ministry spokeswoman, the two people arrested are “linked” to the Pietermaritzburg killing, which was allegedly carried out by two men.

According to the preliminary investigation, the Soweto shooting was carried out by “several gunmen” armed with AK-47 assault rifles.

Shootings are common in South Africa, one of the world’s most violent countries, fuelled by gang violence and alcohol, but investigators are baffled by the indiscriminate nature of the two-weekend killings.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said in a statement Sunday that the violent deaths are “unacceptable and disturbing,” and that “we cannot allow violent criminals to terrorize us in this way.”