A dark cloud hangs over Saulsville, South Africa, after a horrific mass shooting claimed 11 lives, including three innocent children, aged just 3, 12, and 16. The tragedy unfolded at an unlicensed bar near Pretoria in the early hours of Saturday morning. Multiple gunmen opened fire, leaving 14 others wounded and fighting for their lives in hospital. The conditions of the injured and their specific ages have not yet been released. Police are actively searching for three male suspects, but the motive behind this senseless act, which occurred around 4:15 AM but wasn’t reported until 6 AM, remains a mystery.
This isn’t an isolated incident. South Africa faces a devastating battle with gun violence, boasting one of the world’s highest homicide rates. In 2024 alone, over 26,000 people have been killed – an average of more than 70 deaths every single day. Despite relatively strict gun ownership laws, authorities say many of these killings are carried out with illegal firearms, making control a complex challenge.
Mass shootings at informal bars, often called shebeens or taverns, have become a grim recurring nightmare across the nation. Just in 2022, 16 people were killed in a similar incident in Soweto, highlighting the pervasive danger. This widespread issue has prompted police to intensify efforts, shutting down over 11,000 illegal taverns between April and September this year and arresting more than 18,000 individuals for illegal liquor sales. The problem, however, extends beyond bars, with other mass killings reported in private residences. As investigations continue and a community mourns, the urgent need to address the roots of this pervasive violence, protect its most vulnerable, and restore peace to South African communities becomes starkly clear.
Source: https://en.news4social.com/at-least-11-killed-in-mass-shooting-at-south-african-bar/
