The death toll from a mass shooting at a South African pub has tragically climbed to 10, with police identifying two potential suspects.
The early Sunday morning attack in Bekkersdal, 46 kilometres west of Johannesburg, claimed the lives of three women and seven men.
Nine individuals remain in hospital.
The pub owner will face charges of fraud and operating an illegal liquor outlet, following the confiscation of all alcohol, Gauteng police spokesperson Col. Mavela Masondo confirmed.
Maj. Gen. Fred Kekana, acting provincial commissioner of Gauteng, told reporters that two other people have been identified as potential suspects in the shooting based on community reports to the police.
Map of Bekkersdal:
It was the second mass shooting in three weeks at a township pub, which are sometimes called shebeens or taverns in South Africa.
In early December, a mass shooting at an unlicensed bar near the capital, Pretoria, left at least 12 people dead. On Monday, a 32-year-old man was arrested.
South Africa has one of the highest homicide rates in the world, with over 26,000 reported in 2024, or a daily average of over 70. Despite stringent gun ownership rules, firearms are the most common weapons used, and many crimes employ illicit firearms, according to authorities.
