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This is a list of mass shootings that have occurred in South Africa. A mass shooting has various definitions, but is defined by South African police as an incident in which three or more people are shot with a firearm.[1]
Mass shootings in South Africa are mostly perpetrated by gangs, and are usually motivated by competition for turf and resources, as well as illegal mining.[1][2] Another cause are the long-standing conflicts between minibus taxi associations in the country.[1] They often result in revenge shootings.[1][2] Taverns are often targeted.[2][3]
A lack of essential police resources has been discussed as a cause of the slowed response to mass murders in South Africa, and a lack of detectives preventing proactive analysis of crimes.[2][3] A disconnect between policing and the communities they service has been pointed out as a possible influencing factor,[2] as has the rate of certified firearm theft.[3]
| Date | Location | Province | Dead | Injured | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 May 1927 | Charlestown | Transvaal | 9–10[lower-alpha 1] | 3 | Stephanus Swart, a farmer, went on a spree in Charlestown following a dispute over criminal charges, before killing himself. |
| 26 November 1931 | Bethlehem | Orange Free State | 6[lower-alpha 1] | 6 | Cornelius Johannes Petrus van Heerden, armed with a saloon rifle and a revolver, held up a car driver. After the driver resisted, van Heerden shot him dead, and drove towards Bethlehem, shooting people on the road. After he was pursued by police, he killed himself.[4] |
| 28–29 April 1975 | Israeli Consulate in Johannesburg | Gauteng | 4 | 51 | 1975 Fox Street siege: David and Charles Protter, two Jewish South Africans, took hostages at the Israeli Consulate in Johannesburg. David Protter surrendered the next day. |
| 15 November 1988 | Pretoria | Gauteng | 8 | 16 | Strijdom Square massacre: White supremacist Barend Strydom went on a shooting spree throughout central Pretoria, later saying he wanted to start a race war. He was later amnestied and released. |
| 20 January 1992 | Ladysmith | KwaZulu-Natal | 9 | 19 | 1992 Ladysmith shooting: After an argument at his family's farm, Kallie Delport killed his father and then went on a shooting spree. Most of Delport's victims were black, and in the aftermath racial tensions in the area increased. Delport was subsequently arrested and sentenced to 39 years in prison. |
| 25 August 1992 | Prison complex in Goedemoed
|
Orange Free State | 9[lower-alpha 1] | 4 | On 25 August 1992, police constable L. S. Hasebeng, facing a rape investigation, killed eight people and injured four before killing himself. The dead included the commander of his station.[5] |
| 19 July 1993 | Germiston | Gauteng | ? | ? | A taxi was ambushed near a hotel, with the attackers (carrying AK-47s) forcing all passengers out. They then separated members of the ANC and PAC political parties; they were then marched into the veld and killed.[6] |
| 22 August 1993 | Germiston | Gauteng | 13 | 16 | Three men opened fire with AK-47s on a group planning a burial; the shooting was near the location of the attack the prior month, and the attack was likely motivated as revenge. Prior to the shooting, rumors had appeared in the area that there would be a revenge attack against Xhosa speakers. All victims were Xhosa speakers.[6][7] |
| 26 July 1999 | Anchor Comprehensive High School in Soweto | Gauteng | 3 | 0 | Charles Raboroko, a business economics teacher at Anchor Comprehensive High School, was alleged to have shot and killed three of his colleagues. He was charged for the crimes, but was eventually ruled unfit to stand trial due to paranoid schizophrenia.[8] |
| 16 September 1999 | Tempe military base | Free State | 9[lower-alpha 1] | 4 | 1999 Tempe military base shooting: Lt. Sibusiso Madubela, a black soldier who had his pay suspended after he went AWOL following his father's funeral, opened fire at Tempe military base, deliberately targeting whites. He was then shot and killed by other soldiers. The resulting inquiry revealed widespread racial discrimination in the SANDF. |
| 12 January 2000 | Pretoria | Gauteng | 3 | 4 | De Wet Kritzinger, a white supremacist, shot and killed three black people, injuring four, on a bus in Pretoria. He was sentenced to three life terms and 40 years in prison. Barend Strydom, who had been released, showed up to support him in court.[9][10] |
| 9 February 2002 | Mdantsane | Eastern Cape | 12[lower-alpha 1] | 6 | On 9 February 2002, Bulelani Vukwana (also referred to as Bulelani Vukwane) shot to death 11 people and injured a further six in Mdantsane.[11][12] Vukwana, a security guard, had arrived at the home of his girlfriend, who had broken up with him, to persuade her to come back to him. After she refused to see him, an enraged Vukwana went to a nearby shebeen, where he shot and injured the owner and killed another man. Afterwards he returned to his girlfriend's house, where a family function was in progress, where he shot her point blank.[12][13][14]
He started shooting randomly at motorists and pedestrians, killing several people.[12][14] When he was spotted by police, he fired several shots at the officers and attempted to escape. He later killed himself by a shot to the head.[12] |
| 1 July 2002 | Postmasburg | Northern Cape | 4 | 9 | Christo Brian Fortune, a dismissed policeman, stole firearms from a police station, and then randomly opened fire on the street and surrounding areas. Prior to the shooting, he had assaulted his wife. He was sentenced to four life terms.[15] |
| 20 January 2003 | Cape Town | Western Cape | 9 | 1 | Sizzlers massacre: 9 people were killed and one was injured in an anti-LGTBQ hate crime. |
| 19 October 2007 | Polokwane | Limpopo | 4 | 0 | Samson Mocheku Tsamago, a driver for the Seshego Hospital, shot and killed 4 officials at the hospital, including the CEO, in a possible retaliation for his dismissal from the job following a fatal hit and run. He used a gun stolen from the hospital's security guard.[16] He was sentenced to 18 years in prison.[17] |
| 14 January 2008 | Skierlik | North West | 4 | 8 | 2008 Skierlik shooting: Johan Nel, an Afrikaner teenager, went on a racially-motivated shooting spree, killing four people and injuring eight. He was sentenced to life in prison. |
| 8 March 2020 | Site B, Khayelitsha | Western Cape | 7 | 7 | Khayelitsha tavern shooting: Seven people were shot dead in the morning at a tavern. A 32-year-old suspect was arrested the next day. |
| 2 November 2020 | Gugulethu
|
Western Cape | 8 | 1 | A mass shooting occurred on the afternoon of 2 November 2020.[18][19] It took place in a house in NY78, Gugulethu, Cape Town, South Africa and resulted in the death of eight people between the ages of 30 and 50 years old.[20][21] One additional victim was injured in the shooting.[22] Seven of the nine victims died on scene (3 women and 4 men)[21] whilst an eighth victim died later in hospital.[22]
Local residents reported to the media that the shooting was related to a gang conflict between the Guptas and the Boko Haram street gangs.[18] Other reports by local residents indicated that the killing was conducted by the Boko Haram gang targeting a local woman, killed on scene, who refused to pay extortion money to the gang.[18] Whilst the Gugulethu Development Forum stated that the killings were "drug-related."[21] |
| 25 December 2020 | Mount Ayliff
|
Eastern Cape | 7–9 | 6–12 | A dispute over minibus taxi routes between competing taxi routes was reported to have led to the shooting on 25 December 2020..[23][24][25] The following day six suspects were arrested. It took place in the village of Mount Ayliff in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa and resulted in the death of between seven[23] and nine people.[26] At least six people were reported injured in the attack.[23] It was reported that most of the dead were from the nearby village of Nokhatshile.[23][24][25]
The South African National Defense Force was called in to assist the police in the search for suspects as they had escaped into the surrounding area following the incident.[24][27] The following day six suspects, injured in the incident, were arrested.[28] Seven suspects appeared before the Mount Ayliff Magistrates Court on charges relating to the incident on 28 December 2020.[29] |
| 9 July 2022 | Pietermaritzburg | KwaZulu-Natal | 4 | 8 | 2022 Pietermaritzburg shooting: Two men entered the Sweetwaters tavern and opened fire, before fleeing in a car. Two days later police arrested four suspects. |
| 9 July 2022 | Soweto | Gauteng | 16 | 7 | 2022 Soweto shooting: A group of men armed with rifles and a pistol arrived and opened fire on patrons in the tavern. The perpetrators fled the scene and were not apprehended. |
| 29 January 2023 | KwaZakhele
|
Eastern Cape | 8 | 3 | On 29 January 2023 a mass shooting happened at a private home in the KwaZakhele township of Gqeberha. The two gunmen opened fire on the guests who were attending a birthday party before fleeing the scene, resulting in the death of eight people. Initially, seven people were declared dead at the scene with an additional four people injured. One of the four injured people later died of their injuries in a hospital. The South African Police Service stated that the motive for the attack was unknown.[30][31][32] |
| 28 September 2024 | Lusikisiki | Eastern Cape | 18 | 5 | 2024 Lusikisiki shootings: 18 people were killed and five others were injured in two mass shootings at two homesteads in Lusikisiki. The first mass shooting killed four, while the second shooting killed thirteen.[33][34] |
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