At least 11 people — including a three-year-old child — have been killed in a mass shooting at a hostel in South Africa, with 14 more wounded after gunmen opened fire in the early hours of Saturday morning.
The attack took place at an informal hostel in Saulsville township, west of Pretoria, when at least three unidentified assailants stormed the premises at around 04:30 local time. According to police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe, the gunmen began shooting “randomly” at a group of people who had gathered to drink.
Among the dead were a 12-year-old boy and a 16-year-old girl. Police confirmed that 25 people in total were shot during the assault. No arrests have been made so far, and the motive behind the attack remains unclear.
Authorities described the location as an “illegal shebeen,” a type of unlicensed drinking spot police say has become a recurring hotspot for violent incidents. Mathe noted that many large-scale shootings in South Africa occur in such informal establishments, where innocent bystanders often end up caught in the middle.
South African police have been running a nationwide crackdown on these unlawful venues, shutting down 12,000 unlicensed drinking outlets between April and September and arresting over 18,000 individuals. Despite these efforts, the country continues to struggle with soaring levels of violent crime.
South Africa has one of the highest murder rates globally, with 45 killings per 100,000 people according to 2023–24 data from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime. Police figures show that an average of 63 people were murdered every day between April and September this year.
The latest attack adds to a troubling rise in mass shootings in recent years, deepening concerns about security and gun violence in the country.