Eleven arrested over mass shooting in South Africa tavern

11 suspects were arrested regarding the incident Mass shooting that left nine dead In a pub in South Africa on Sunday.

Police have launched a manhunt to catch 12 unidentified gunmen who opened fire on customers at the Bekkersdal facility near Johannesburg at around 01:00 local time (23:00 GMT Saturday).

On Wednesday, provincial deputy police commissioner Major General Fred Kekana said nine of the arrested suspects were Lesotho nationals and one was a Mozambican national.

Another suspect, believed to be a South African mine worker, was also detained.

Homicides in South Africa, which has one of the highest rates in the world, are often the result of arguments, robberies and gang violence.

Although the attack appeared to be “unprovoked” at the time, preliminary investigations now appear to suggest a motive linked to illegal mining turf wars.

During the attack, the gunmen continued to fire as people fled the tavern, killing two people as well as a taxi driver who had dropped off a passenger nearby.

During the arrests, many unlicensed firearms, including an AK-47 rifle, were seized from the suspects.

According to statistics cited by Gideon Joubert of the South African Gun Owners Association, there are approximately 3 million legally held firearms in South Africa and at least the same number of unlicensed guns.

Claire Taylor, a researcher from campaign group Gun Free South Africa, told the BBC that although there was a decline in reported mass shootings in 2025, there had been a significant increase in incidents in which four or more people were killed or injured since 2020.

The most common places for these attacks include licensed taverns or illegal drinking establishments, known locally as shebeens.

Sunday’s shooting came just two weeks after another attack at the Saulsville Hostel in the capital Pretoria. 11 people, including a three-year-old child, were killed.