Horror of South Africa’s mass killings as toll reaches 196
The remnants of burnt cars outside the tavern where 18 people were killed in a shooting in Wedela township, southwest of Johannesburg, South Africa, in this photo taken on September 28, 2026.
Seventeen people went to a tavern near Carletonville, a gold-mining town 70 kilometres west of Johannesburg, on Saturday night and never came home. Hours later, gunmen killed 10 people at an entertainment venue near Cape Town.
By Sunday morning, 27 people had been killed in two attacks roughly 1,400km apart. They were the latest victims in a year that has seen at least 196 people killed in 41 mass killings across South Africa, according to the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime (GI-TOC).
