‘Same evening, same area’ – Another shooting in KZN leaves five people dead

Five people have died in a separate shooting to the Marianhill incident, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi has confirmed.

Around 7:30pm on Saturday, six people were shot and killed when a group of unknown gunmen opened fire on them at tuckshop in Marianhill, west of Durban.

The seventh person died in hospital.

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Mkhwanazi, who visited Marianhill on Sunday, revealed that there was another shooting, where five people were shot dead.

“It is [the] second shooting in the same evening in the same area. Seven people died here and not far from here, another five died in another shooting incident,” he told eNCA.

According to Police Minister Bheki Cele, preliminary investigations into the tuckshop shooting suggest that the suspects were targeting two or three people.

Cele said the other victims were at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Regarding the other shooting incident, Mkhwanazi explained: “It was a youngster apparently that tried to rob people [but] they beat him up so he went home to regroup. He came back to attack the other five and then he shot and killed them. So that was more of [an act] of revenge.”

The KZN police commissioner said these shootings highlighted the issue of illegal firearms in South Africa, which needed to be addressed.

READ MORE: ‘New phenomenon’ – Is one crime syndicate behind tavern shootings in SA?

“It’s all firearms which shows us that there is really a problem with regard to the access to firearms in the country, especially in KZN. There are many causative factors we need to look at which makes people to be this angry and people that end up resorting to violence of this nature.

“So we have been engaging with the executive and different role players to find answers, but it is concerning to us as law enforcement,” he said.

Shootings in SA

More than 35 people were killed in tavern-related violence in July.

Earlier this month, 16 people were killed and seven injured in Soweto, while four were killed and eight wounded in Pietermaritzburg.

Four suspects were arrested in connection to the Pietermaritzburg shooting, which took place at the Samkelisiwe Tavern in Sweetwaters after two were initially nabbed by the police, but were later released due to lack of evidence.

In other incidents, five people were shot dead in Thembelihle informal settlement and six others died in an armed robbery in Alexandra.

READ MORE: Another mass shooting: Four shot dead in Lenasia

Two people were also fatally shot and seven wounded at a tavern in Ga-rankuwa, north of Pretoria.

Meanwhile, two people died at the Mputlane Inn Tavern in Katlehong after four unknown gunmen fired shots aimed at a snooker table on 8 July.

On 11 July, three suspects wearing balaclavas approached a 33-year-old man and shot him twice at the Monaco tavern in Mamelodi, Pretoria.

The shootings come after 21 teenagers died at the Enyobeni tavern in East London, Eastern Cape in July.

The owner of the tavern was arrested along with two employees following a criminal complaint laid by the Eastern Cape Liquor Board (ECLB) at Scenery Park Police Station for contravention of the Liquor Act.