Tragedy struck a South African village over the weekend as mass shootings at two houses on the same street resulted in the death of 18 individuals, officials confirmed on Monday.
The incident occurred in Lusikisiki village in Eastern Cape province, where assailants opened fire on people gathered for a family event on Saturday. The motive behind the killings remains unknown, and authorities are actively investigating the case with no arrests made thus far.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa expressed his condolences to the affected families and vowed to allocate all necessary resources to the investigation. He highlighted the concerning trend of mass shootings in the country, with 38 people having lost their lives in similar incidents over the past two years.
President Ramaphosa emphasized the unity of the nation in grief and condemnation of such criminal acts, ensuring that justice will prevail for the victims.
This recent tragedy adds to a series of mass shootings in South Africa, including a horrific incident in KwaZulu-Natal province in April 2023 where ten family members were killed. Another devastating event took place in 2022 when sixteen individuals were fatally shot in a bar in Soweto, marking one of the worst mass shootings in the country in decades.
South Africa continues to grapple with a high homicide rate, recording 12,734 homicides in the first half of this year alone, according to police statistics.
