Mass shootings in South Africa have cast a spotlight on the country’s persistent struggle with violent crime, leaving communities shaken and demanding answers.
These incidents, which occur in both private and public spaces, have left communities questioning public safety, policing capacity and the broader social conditions fueling such attacks.
The time of day does not matter either, a testament to the brazenness of the people who commit these crimes.
While some experts have called for better policing strategies, others have called for gun reforms.
Mass shootings in SA
In January 2025, eight people were fatally shot at a tavern in Pienaar, Mpumalanga. Two other victims were left injured.
Two suspects have since been arrested for the crimes.
On 12 January 2025, police in Gqeberha attended to a crime scene where six men were shot dead. One woman was injured.
Police were alerted to a shooting incident at KwaZakhele at about 10pm. On their arrival at the house, they found the bodies of six men aged between 21 and 27 and the injured woman.
The victims were in the house when they were attacked by unknown armed suspects who shot at them.
In March 2025, police in Soshanguve responded to a crime scene at about 6am at Marry Me Informal Settlement.
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The police found four bodies with gunshot wounds and partially burned.
A group of community-based patrollers was on patrol when they noticed five people on the street. When the group approached the five, a quarrel broke out, which ended with four dead and eight injured.
In Cape Town in September, police responded to two incidents of shootings in separate locations on the same day.
On 9 September in Kraaifontein, two women were shot dead in Molefe Street, Wallacedene, at about 11pm.
In another incident at about 11pm in Taleman Street, Wallacedene, two women in their twenties were shot and fatally wounded. Police found the women inside a bedroom with gunshot wounds to their heads.
In October, six teenagers were shot in what is believed to be a gang-related incident in Westbury. Two of the victims were declared dead on arrival at the hospital.
The victims, aged between 14 and 19, were allegedly targeted by three suspects believed to be affiliated with a rival gang.
Access to guns
The portfolio committee on police said in October that it believes the easy access to illegal weapons is a primary enabler of the violence terrorising communities.
“We call upon Saps to immediately intensify and sustain targeted operations to locate, confiscate, and destroy the vast number of illegal firearms in circulation in Westbury and across Gauteng,” it said.
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“A centralised and urgent audit of firearms lost from state institutions and private security companies must be prioritised.”
The committee called for a deployment of specialised Police units, including Tactical Response Teams, the Anti-Gang Unit, and Crime Intelligence, to targeted communities.
“A high-density, visible policing operation is essential to stabilise the areas, dismantle criminal networks, and prevent further bloodshed.
“We call for increased investment in social services, youth development programmes, and economic opportunities to address the root causes of crime and provide young people with alternatives to violence.”
‘Ring leaders’
National police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe says police are at work to remove criminals from the streets.
Firearms are being seized, too.
Reasons for these mass shootings range from interpersonal conflict and taxi violence to gang violence.
In the Western Cape, it’s mostly gang violence, said Mathe.
“In the Western case, it’s largely ongoing gang violence that is leading to these mass shootings. And that is why we are enhancing our organised crime strategy to actually get to the ring leaders,” she said.
“Because we are arresting the runners, but we have to get to those who are actually pulling the strings.”
Western Cape provincial police commissioner Lieutenant General Thembisile Patekile has previously shared the same sentiments.
“Firearms are the weapon of choice in murder and attempted murder cases recorded in gang violence shooting incidents,” said Patekile, following a discovery of firearms in Mitchell’s Plain in September.
“We have been seeing that people here at Mitchells Plain have been shot in the head, so now we’re seeing that this is a planned thing where people do target shooting practice,” Patekile said.
“Who is sponsoring that? Who is behind all this? Because we know some of the big guys have been arrested and are inside. But we’re seeing that the shootings are still continuing, and we’re seeing these guns in a quiet area.”
Mathe commended communities for tipping off police about such incidents and called on more to do so to ensure criminals are put behind bars.
“We rely on them [communities], heavily rely on them, because in most instances, someone, somewhere saw something,” she said.
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