What's behind South Africa's mass shootings and how they're often different to lone gunman attacks

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Eight gunmen with AK-47 rifles and pistols shot patrons outside a bar and then moved inside to continue their deadly rampage, killing at least 17 people Saturday in one of three mass shootings in South Africa in the space of six days this week.

A total of at least 38 people were killed and nearly 30 were wounded in the separate late-night shootings in impoverished townships near South Africa's three biggest cities. Two of the massacres happened in the space of a few hours late Saturday night and in the predawn hours of Sunday.

South Africa's mass shootings often differ from lone gunman mass shootings seen in the United States and other countries. The shootings in South Africa are mostly connected to criminality, rather than ideological motive or personal grievance.

There is no standard global definition of mass shootings. In South Africa, police define a mass shooting as when three or more people are shot in a single attack.

All three mass shootings this week involved multiple gunmen, according to police. They said they were hunting for eight suspects who carried out the attack Saturday night at a small neighborhood bar in Wedela township, southwest of South Africa’s biggest city of Johannesburg.

Multiple suspects carried out another mass shooting hours later that killed 10 at a store connected to a nighttime entertainment venue in Lwandle township near the city of Cape Town, though police didn't say exactly how many shooters there were. Three gunmen — at least one of whom also used an AK-47 rifle — killed 11 people after forcing their way into a house party in KwaMakhutha township near the city of Durban on Tuesday night.

Seven mass shootings have gained national headlines since December. Six of them — where dozens of victims were killed in bars , houses, at a hostel or outside on the street — were carried out by multiple gunmen.

Authorities say many of the mass shootings are linked to criminal gangs fighting turf wars or using violence to establish control over communities and areas.

Saturday night's mass shooting at the bar near Johannesburg occurred in an area where residents said there was a history of violence by illegal mining gangs . The acting provincial commissioner said police were investigating a possible lead that the shooting was a revenge attack as one of the victims was connected to a previous shooting.

Illegal mining gangs are notorious for terrorizing communities in the gold-mining areas around the Johannesburg region, where they are involved in the lucrative illicit gold trade. In other parts of the country, including Cape Town , gangs involved in selling illegal drugs or extortion rackets have been responsible for mass shootings.

South Africa has some of the highest gun homicide rates in the world, but they mostly affect impoverished communities where police have struggled to contain the violence. After a mass shooting killed 12 people in a poor Johannesburg neighborhood in June, residents said they had long complained about gangs and illegal guns in the area to police.

Things like their distance from police stations or a lack of lighting make poor townships vulnerable to violent crime , according to experts. Innocent bystanders, including children, are often killed in the mass shootings.

Crime in South Africa mirrors its larger economic inequality. Affluent suburbs — sometimes just a few miles from townships — are well lit, often patrolled by armed private security personnel and have much lower violent crime rates.

South Africa reached a turning point in March when President Cyril Ramaphosa deployed soldiers on the streets in a yearlong operation to support police in the fight against violent crime committed by organized gangs. Ramaphosa said that crime was the biggest threat to South Africa's democracy and economic development.

One of the specific focuses of the operation was the illegal mining gangs operating in and around Johannesburg.

While some poor communities welcomed the soldiers as long-needed security for their neighborhoods, critics of the government said using the army to fight crime was effectively an admission that the police had failed.

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