Attackers wound 10 others in Bekkersdal after opening fire at tavern patrons and ‘randomly’ shooting in the street, police say

Gunmen killed nine people and wounded 10 others in an attack at a township outside Johannesburg, police said on Sunday, in the second mass shooting in South Africa in December.

Police initially said 10 people were killed but later revised the toll.

The motive for the attack at Bekkersdal, 40km (25 miles) south-west of Johannesburg, was not clear, police told Agence France-Presse.

“Some victims were randomly shot in the streets by unknown gunmen,” a police statement said.

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The attackers in two vehicles “opened fire at tavern patrons and continued to shoot randomly as they fled the scene”, the police statement said.

The dead included a driver from an online car-hailing service who had been outside the bar, provincial police commissioner Maj Gen Fred Kekana told SABC television.

A manhunt for the attackers was launched, police said.

The shooting took place near an informal bar in Bekkersdal, an impoverished area near some of South Africa’s major goldmines.

The wounded were taken to hospital, police said.

South Africa is grappling with entrenched crime and corruption driven by organised networks.

Shootings are common and often fuelled by gang violence and competition between informal businesses, contributing to one of the highest murder rates in the world.

On 6 December, gunmen stormed a hostel near the capital, Pretoria, killing a dozen people including a three-year-old child. Police said the shooting was at a site that was illegally selling alcohol.