A group of armed men opened fire on guests at a house party in a township in South Africa, killing at least 11 and injuring three.
The incident occurred in a township south of the major city of Durban.
A woman believed to be pregnant and 13 men were among those attending the party in the township of KwaMakhutha in KwaZulu-Natal province, police said.
“Ten victims, including the woman, died at the scene and four were taken to hospital; one of them succumbed to gunshot injuries,” they added in a statement.
A spokesman said: “Preliminary investigations have revealed that some of the victims were on Crime Intelligence’ radar in connection with illegal activities which police cannot divulge at the moment to protect investigations which have been launched.
“Although the motive of the shooting cannot be confirmed yet, feud between rival groupings cannot be ruled out.”
South Africa has one of the world’s highest murder rates, averaging about 60 a day.
In February, President Cyril Ramaphosa said organised crime was “the most immediate threat to our democracy, our society and our economic development”.
An investigation was launched after the incident
|
FACEBOOK/SAPS
The South African authorities confirmed the army would be deployed to support the police.
Over the last few weeks, fears have been rising across South Africa, following the discovery of at least nine murdered women, with some of the bodies dumped by the roadside.
Last year, nine people were killed in a mass shooting at a tavern in Johannesburg.
Experts have warned violence among criminal gangs amid turf wars, drug trafficking and illegal mining is common in the country, often driving violence within communities
A burnt out vehicle was left at the scene
|
FACEBOOK/SAPS
Officials in South Africa publish detailed crime statistics every quarter, which show that between April and June this year, 5,427 people were murdered.
While official data does not distinguish between the genders of the victims, the country’s Human Rights Commission released figures last week showing 569 women had been killed in that period, with another 1,052 who faced attempted murder.
This has put increasing pressure on Cape Town, less than a year after ministers acknowledged the scale of the issue and declared gender-based violence a national disaster, reports the BBC.
Amnesty International’s country director Shenilla Mohamed: “Every day that femicide remains unrecognised as a crime is a failure to confront the targeted killing of women.
“It is time to call it what it is: Femicide. Femicide is a gender-motivated crime. It is the killing of a woman because she is a woman.”
Police in KwaZulu-Natal have launched a probe into the incident
|
FACEBOOK/SAPS
In Kempton Park, a district of Ekurhulen where five of the nine recent bodies were found, women have spoken about how unsafe they feel.
Lumka Maqhubela, from the Girl2Woman Foundation activist group, told the BBC: “We are grieved, we are scared.
“If the police cannot protect us any more the government should step in and do something.
“It’s clear that we are not safe, we cannot be told by the police to be more vigilant. They should be doing more to make our communities safe – what else are we expected to do? We are not safe anywhere, not in our homes, not in the streets, it needs to stop.”
Leave a Reply