
A gang killed 12 people in a Johannesburg informal settlement. The attack points to organized crime's grip on illegal mining and raises questions about security for investors.
A gang of at least 10 armed men killed 12 people and wounded nine others in an informal settlement in Johannesburg's Cleveland suburb late Tuesday, police said Wednesday. The attackers moved through the area on foot, firing at residents at multiple locations before fleeing in a white minibus. Eleven victims died at the scene. One more died in a hospital. Nine men and three women were among the dead.
Provincial police commissioner Tommy Mthombeni called the killings "insane, heartless and, to a certain extent, barbaric." He said it was too early to link the violence to illegal mining gangs. Police are investigating that possibility. Mthombeni confirmed that officers recently confiscated assault rifles and other illegal firearms in the area. Illegal miners operate there, he said.
Residents described a community living in fear. Nkosinathi Phatha said his uncle was among the dead. "I was sleeping at home with my daughter, we all woke up when the gunshots started going off," Phatha said. "I'm still shaking even now, my young girl is still traumatized." Phatha said the settlement has a persistent problem with illegal miners. Police rarely help, he added. "This area is not safe. The police are not doing anything about it, and we will get into trouble if we start taking the law into our own hands."
Local council member Neuren Pietersen confirmed that illegal mining gangs have ties to Cleveland. He said other problems exist, including tension over land. "There are a lot of moving parts here so it's hard to pinpoint exactly what is driving the issues," Pietersen told eNCA TV.
The attack is the latest in a string of mass shootings in South Africa. Two in December left more than 20 people dead. One of those also involved multiple shooters. The country recorded more than 23,000 killings in the last financial year, an average of more than 60 a day, according to official crime statistics.
South Africa's government deployed the army to high-risk areas around Johannesburg in March to clamp down on illegal mines run by criminal syndicates. The yearlong operation has drawn criticism from opposition lawmakers and crime analysts. They say the deployment signals that police are losing the battle against organized crime.
For investors, the shooting highlights a deteriorating security environment in Africa's biggest economy. Illegal mining gangs operate with impunity in and around Johannesburg, which sits on large gold reserves and many abandoned mines. The gangs search for leftover gold deposits, sometimes storing them in hideouts in informal settlements. Rival gangs fight turf wars and use violence against communities to establish control.
Acting national police commissioner Puleng Dimpane said forensic investigators and tactical response teams have been deployed. Tracing the white minibus is a priority, Dimpane said. No arrests have been made.
Jack Bloom, a local politician, said the scale of this attack was different from previous crime in the area. "This was basically a massacre. It's horrifying," Bloom said.
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