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11 suspects have been arrested Mass shooting leaves nine dead Sunday in a South African tavern.
Police have launched a manhunt for 12 unknown gunmen who opened fire on customers at the Bekkersdal restaurant near Johannesburg at around 01:00 local time (23:00 GMT on Saturday).
On Wednesday, deputy provincial police chief Maj. Gen. Fred Kekana said nine of the suspects arrested were Lesotho nationals and one was from Mozambique.
Another suspect, believed to be a South African miner, was also detained.
South Africa has one of the highest murder rates in the world, often the result of brawls, robberies and gang violence.
While the attack appeared to be “unprovoked” at the time, preliminary investigations now appear to suggest the motive was linked to an illegal mining turf war.
During the attack, the gunman continued shooting as people fled the pub, killing two people and a taxi driver who was dropping off passengers nearby.
After the arrest, police found multiple unlicensed firearms on the suspect, including an AK-47 rifle.
According to statistics cited by Gideon Joubert of the South African Gun Owners Association, there are approximately 3 million legally owned firearms in South Africa, and at least the same number of unlicensed weapons.
Claire Taylor, a researcher at the Gun Free Campaign South Africa, told the BBC that while there were fewer 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 venues for these attacks are licensed pubs or illegal drinking establishments, known locally as “shebeens”.
Sunday’s shooting came two weeks after another attack at the Solsville Hotel in the capital, Pretoria. Eleven people, including a three-year-old child, were killed.
