Tragic Tavern Attack in South Africa Claims Nine Lives

Mon Dec 22 2025 09:49:02 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

A shooting incident in Bekkersdal, South Africa, has left a grim toll of nine individuals dead and ten others injured, igniting widespread concern and horror among local communities.

In a shocking late-night assault at a tavern in Bekkersdal, nine people were killed and ten injured when a group of gunmen opened fire without provocation. The incident, part of a troubling trend of violence in South Africa, has led to calls for increased safety measures from local officials.

A manhunt is under way after a shooting at a tavern in South Africa left nine people dead and another 10 injured.

Police said seven men and two women were killed in Bekkersdal, near Johannesburg, after about 12 unidentified gunmen arrived in two vehicles and opened fire at patrons.

The shooting happened at about 01:00 local time on Sunday (23:00 GMT Saturday) and the perpetrators continued to shoot randomly as [people] fled the scene, police added.

South Africa has one of the highest murder rates in the world. Sixty-three people were killed every day on average between April and September this year, according to police figures.

Murders are often the result of arguments, robberies, and gang violence. The motive for this attack is not clear.

At the scene, deputy provincial police commissioner Maj-Gen Fred Kekana told broadcaster Newzroom Afrika that the perpetrators, armed with pistols and one AK-47, were unprovoked.

The poor patrons were just enjoying themselves when people came and shot, he said.

Two of the victims were shot outside the tavern as they tried to flee and a third was a taxi driver who had dropped off a passenger nearby, Maj-Gen Kekana added.

Resident Nokuthula Bhukwana went to the tavern after she heard the shooting.

When we arrived at the scene, we opened the doors and indeed scores of people were lying on the floor, she told the Reuters news agency.

We rushed around and others were calling the police, and we also called the ambulance and they arrived. We had to carry some of the injured people using wheelbarrows to the clinic.

Speaking to Newzroom Afrika, one resident described how gunfire had become a normal thing at night in Bekkersdal.

Criminals, they do as they please here, the unnamed man said.

Interviewed at the scene, deputy mayor for the local municipality Nontombi Molatlhegi said that locals were afraid of speaking out and identifying those responsible.

She said that the police were under-resourced, and too thinly spread, and called for the military to get involved in protecting residents.

We are crying, as well as the city political leadership, for the intervention of the national government to release [the army] so that they can be able to come in this space and be visible.