South Africa Hit by Wave of Mass Shootings, Dozens Killed in a Week

In late September 2026, South Africa experienced multiple mass shootings within roughly a week, according to South African police and multiple news outlets. On Saturday night, September 26-27, two separate shootings occurred near the country's two largest cities: one at a bar in Wedela township, southwest of Johannesburg, and another at a barbecue venue near Cape Town. Several days earlier, on or before September 23, a shooting at a house party also occurred, killing 11 people, including a pregnant woman. Police said the Wedela bar attack involved eight suspects armed with AK-47 assault rifles and pistols, who killed 17 people and wounded at least 15 others. The separate incident near Cape Town killed 10 people, bringing the combined toll from the two Saturday-night shootings to at least 27 dead, according to the South African Police Service. The earlier house-party shooting was carried out by three gunmen and left 11 dead and three wounded. NPR reported a cumulative total of 38 people killed in mass shootings across South Africa over the span of about a week, encompassing these and possibly other incidents. No arrests had been made in connection with the two Saturday-night shootings as of the initial reporting. As of the latest reports, investigations into all incidents remained ongoing, with no suspects arrested in the Johannesburg-area and Cape Town-area shootings. CBS News noted the attacks occurred amid South Africa's persistent gun violence, often linked to gang rivalries, though this characterization of motive was not independently corroborated by other outlets. The precise relationship between the house-party shooting and the two later attacks, including whether they are connected, remains unclear, as does the full accounting of incidents contributing to NPR's reported weekly total of 38 deaths.