South Africa mourns after two mass shootings in a weekend

South Africa is reeling after two mass shootings in one weekend killed 27 people, one at a tavern near Johannesburg and one at a shop in Cape Town.

Carletonville

At about 9.30pm on Saturday 26 September, a group of about eight armed men opened fire at Dora's Tavern in Wedela, near Carletonville in Gauteng's West Rand district. Seventeen people were killed and 15 wounded. Five people, four men and a woman, were killed outside, and twelve, nine men and three women, inside the tavern.

The attackers, reportedly armed with AK-47 rifles and pistols, searched customers, took mobile phones and fled in two vehicles. Police believe the attack was linked to gang activity. The Gauteng police commissioner, General Tommy Mthombeni, confirmed that a suspect had been arrested in Tzaneen, in Limpopo province.

Cape Town

On Sunday, ten people were killed and eleven injured in a shooting at a store in Lwandle, Cape Town. Police began an investigation.

A wider crisis

South Africa has one of the highest murder rates in the world, and mass shootings at taverns and other gathering places have become a recurring feature of violent crime in the country. According to a count by the Daily Maverick newspaper, the weekend's attacks took the number of people killed in mass killings in South Africa this year to 196.

The Gauteng provincial government called for urgent action after the Carletonville shooting.

The investigation

Police say investigators have recovered clear images of the Carletonville suspects and are working to make further arrests. The attacks add to pressure on the South African Police Service to tackle the gang violence behind many of the country's mass shootings.

A long-standing problem

South Africa has one of the highest murder rates in the world, and illegal firearms are a major concern for the police. Campaign groups have called for more action to take unlicensed guns off the streets.