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At least 27 people were killed and another 26 injured in two mass shootings recorded within a few hours of each other in South Africa, on the outskirts of Johannesburg and Cape Town.
The first attack took place on the night of Saturday, 26 September, in the township of Wedela, southwest of Johannesburg, where eight men armed with AK-47 rifles and pistols opened fire on people at a bar.
According to South African police, 17 people were killed and another 15 injured. The dead included 13 men and four women.
The attackers first opened fire on people who were outside the establishment and then entered the venue, where they continued shooting.
Before fleeing, the suspects allegedly searched some of the victims and stole mobile phones. Authorities said the men left the scene in two vehicles.
Around four hours later, a second shooting was recorded in Lwandle, near Cape Town.
Ten people were killed and another 11 injured in that attack. Police set up a specialised team to investigate the case and locate the suspects.
So far, no arrests have been announced in connection with the two attacks.
Authorities have not established any link between the two shootings, although both occurred within a few hours of each other and during a period marked by several incidents of gun violence in the country.
Days earlier, another attack had been recorded in KwaMakhutha, south of Durban, where gunmen stormed a residence during a party.
That attack initially left 11 people dead, a figure that later rose to 12 after one of the hospitalised victims died from injuries.
The succession of shootings has once again raised concern over the levels of gun violence in South Africa.
The country has faced high levels of violent crime for several years, with firearms among the most commonly used weapons in homicides.
The circulation of illegal firearms, criminal group activity and gang-related violence are among the factors identified by authorities as contributing to the situation.
Between April and June, South Africa recorded 5,427 murders, equivalent to nearly 60 deaths per day, according to official police statistics.
Security forces have intensified operations in several parts of the country in an effort to combat organised crime and remove illegal firearms from circulation.
In one operation carried out in September, more than 17,000 suspects were arrested for various crimes, including murder, illegal possession of firearms, drug trafficking and robbery. Authorities also seized more than one hundred unlicensed firearms.
In March, President Cyril Ramaphosa ordered the deployment of soldiers to some of the areas most affected by crime, in an operation aimed at strengthening the authorities’ response to violent crime.
Investigations into the Wedela and Lwandle attacks are continuing, while police maintain operations to identify those responsible and determine the motives behind the two shootings.
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