Police in South Africa have launched a manhunt after a late-night shooting at a tavern near Johannesburg left nine people dead and at least 10 others wounded.
The attack unfolded in Bekkersdal shortly after 1am on Sunday, when around a dozen assailants arrived in two vehicles and opened fire on patrons inside and outside the venue.
Police said the gunmen continued shooting indiscriminately as people tried to escape. Seven men and two women were killed, including two people shot while fleeing and a taxi driver who had dropped off a passenger nearby.
Deputy provincial police commissioner Major-General Fred Kekana said the attack appeared unprovoked, with the victims simply socialising when they were targeted. The motive remains unclear.
Residents told local media that nightly gunfire has become a grim reality in the area, describing the violence as terrorising for the community.
The shooting comes amid persistently high levels of violent crime in South Africa, where police statistics show an average of 63 murders a day between April and September, fuelled in part by the widespread availability of both licensed and illegal firearms.
Another tavern. Another killing ground.
Bekkersdal, South Africa, west of Johannesburg.
10 dead, around 20 shot after gunmen opened fire.When public spaces in South Africa turn into execution zones,
it’s no longer crime.
It’s a warning of social collapse. pic.twitter.com/NVa3x8K7q2— KAMLESH DABHHI (@kamleshdabhhi) December 21, 2025
Send Mogul Minto
Blacks love killing blacks
When they aren’t committing atrocities on White people
So… basically it was Tuesday.
“Fuelled in part by the widespread availability of both licensed and illegal firearms”. This is getting too obvious.