Three gunmen opened fire on a house party in KwaMakhutha, a township about 30 kilometres south of Durban, late Tuesday, killing 11 people and wounding three others in one of South Africa's deadliest mass shootings this year.
Police said 14 people, 13 men and a woman believed to be pregnant, were gathered inside a house in the Ziko area when the attackers arrived shortly before 11pm local time, forced the group into a single room and opened fire. Ten victims died at the scene; a further victim died later in hospital. One victim's car was set alight during the attack.
Manhunt launched, motive unclear
KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda said no arrests had been made and a 72-hour manhunt was under way. "Although the motive for the shooting cannot be confirmed yet, a feud between rival groupings cannot be ruled out," he said, adding that preliminary investigations had found some of the victims were already known to crime intelligence units in connection with suspected illegal activity, though he declined to elaborate further to protect the investigation.
KwaZulu-Natal Premier Thamsanqa Ntuli said the killings had left the community reeling. "The incident has left the community in profound shock and grief," he said in a statement.
The killings come months after a wave of shootings in Khayelitsha, near Cape Town, left nine people dead in three separate incidents earlier this year, renewing debate over policing capacity and gun controls in South Africa's townships.
The attack adds to a grim run of violence in a country with one of the world's highest murder rates, with roughly 60 people killed daily across a population of about 62 million. Gun violence in KwaZulu-Natal and other provinces is frequently linked to feuds between gangs or rival informal businesses, and the government deployed soldiers alongside police to some of the worst-affected areas earlier this year. President Cyril Ramaphosa has repeatedly named violent crime among the country's most serious threats.
Provincial police have appealed to the public for information as detectives work to establish a motive and identify suspects. No further details on the victims, several of whom have not yet been formally identified, were released Wednesday.
