By Nellie Peyton and Siyabonga Sishi
Heavily armed units stood near the crime scene but stayed for less than an hour. Police say eight suspects wanted in connection with the killings are still at large. Women ran errands and children played in the streets but when approached residents looked over their shoulders and lowered their voices.
A convoy of police and army trucks drove through the area, about 80 km from Johannesburg, in a show of force around midday. Maybe you can be next,” Nonyameko Bekezulu, 32, whose husband was killed in the attack, told Reuters from her family home a few blocks from the tavern. South Africa’s acting police minister told parliament earlier this year that 154 firearms recently recovered from criminals had been identified as originating from the South African Police Service, along with 205 from private security companies.
Because you never know, “We fear even just to go to the shop to buy just a small thing.
Police spokesperson Brenda Muridili acknowledged some communities near Johannesburg “are being terrorised by illegal miners … wielding rifles”. She said police were working with the army to try to disrupt the gangs that control the illicit gold-mining trade and stop violent crime. The gangs are believed to either steal or buy weapons from the police, private security companies and legal gun owners, he said, adding that some military-style weapons like AK-47s have also been smuggled in from neighbouring countries like Namibia and Lesotho.
“That’s when I found my husband lying there. … All I wanted was just to check his pulse if he’s just still breathing or what.
But they couldn’t let us inside,” she said, sitting in bed surrounded by close family.
