South Africa: deadly shootings in Soweto and Pietermaritzburg
The first three months of 2022 were particularly violent in South Africa. The number of murders increased by 22% compared to 2021.
South Africa mourned by two killings in bars in working-class neighborhoods, on the night of Saturday to Sunday, July 10.
Fifteen people died and nine people were injured at a tavern in Soweto, a township southwest of Johannesburg, in the killing, the circumstances of which remain unclear.
Another killing also took place at a tavern in Pietermaritzburg, near Durban, in the east of the country.
Four people were killed and eight injured.
In a country accustomed to violence, anger is growing against the police ministry, accused of being powerless in the face of the circulation of illegal firearms and rampant insecurity.
These killings should leave traces.
It was around midnight on Saturday night when a group of men arrived in mini-buses, armed with rifles and pistols, and began shooting at customers at a Soweto tavern.
Same modus operandi in a tavern in Pietermaritzburg where two men arrive by car around 20:30 and shoot at the crowd.
These tragedies echo the mysterious death without apparent injury of 21 young people just two weeks ago in a tavern in East London on the East Coast.
The succession of these cases, although different, increases the pressure on the Minister of Police.
“Shut up,” he shouted at a civil society representative who was attacking him this week.
The activist said he was exasperated by the minister’s inaction while people were being massacred in the street.
