Around a dozen gunmen opened fire at bar patrons, the police said. A manhunt for the unknown assailants was underway.
Gunmen opened fire at a bar near Johannesburg on Sunday, killing nine people, the police said. The episode adds to the growing list of mass shootings in South Africa, many of which have been linked to organized crime.
Nearly a dozen assailants drove up to the tavern in two vehicles around 1 a.m. and then sprayed it with gunfire, Capt. Tintswalo Sibeko of the South African police said in a statement. Ten people were also injured in the attack, she said.
The authorities have not identified suspects or determined a motive for the attack, according to a national police spokeswoman, Athlenda Mathe, who added that a manhunt was underway.
The shooting took place at the KwaNoxolo tavern in Bekkersdal, a township around 30 miles west of Johannesburg, the police said. Townships were set up outside cities under apartheid as settlements for Black workers, and today many are overcrowded and lack access to utilities and basic services.
The attack is the latest mass shooting in South Africa, which has one of the highest murder rates in the world, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
Earlier this month, three gunmen opened fire at guests staying at an unlicensed tavern near the capital, Pretoria, killing 12 and injuring 13.
Organized crime and a proliferation of firearms are helping to drive the recent spate of mass shootings, according to Chandré Gould, a crime and justice expert at the Institute for Security Studies think tank in South Africa. Criminal gangs, which often run protection rackets and sometimes feud over territory, use violence and intimidation to enforce control, she said.
Ms. Gould said that, while she had no knowledge of the shooting in Bekkersdal beyond news media reports, it bore the hallmarks of organized crime, given the large number of assailants and indications that the attack had been planned.
Although gun deaths have fallen since the passage of gun control legislation in 2014, shootings remain a significant problem in South Africa, Ms. Gould said.
“Guns enter the illegal market in three ways: gun owners who lose their guns, police and military whose guns are stolen, or those engaged in criminal activities,” she said.
