Gunmen kill at least 27 people in separate mass shootings in South Africa

Gunmen killed at least 27 people in two mass shootings in South Africa's two main cities, Johannesburg and Cape Town, police said on Sunday, in the latest criminal violence to hit the country. Eight gunmen armed with assault rifles and pistols stormed a bar southwest of Johannesburg at around 1930 GMT on Saturday, killing 17 people and wounding 15 others. The dead included 13 males and four females. The suspects opened fire on customers drinking outside and then moved inside to continue shooting, police said. The shooting took place in Wedela, a semi-rural township of brick houses and small businesses, surrounded by wide expanses of land used for mining. The suspects torched two vehicles before fleeing. Residents were reluctant to speak about the incident, but one said that illegal miners, known locally as zama zamas from an isiZulu expression for "taking a chance", live in the area, where powerful gangs control the illicit gold mining trade. The province's police commissioner, Tommy Mthombeni, told reporters that one line ‌of inquiry was that the shooting was a "turf war in terms of illegal mining". Saturday's shooting could be retaliation for another at the same tavern about a mo...