Mass killings have wreaked havoc in numerous South African communities in recent months. Along with the devastating murder of 18 people in Lusikisiki in the Eastern Cape province on 28 September, other attacks have taken a heavy toll on human life.

These occurred in places as disparate as Qumbu, Bityi and Tsolo in the Eastern Cape, Bishop Lavis and Atlantis in the Western Cape, Orange Farm in Gauteng province and Orkney in North West province.

We don’t know the exact reasons for each of these incidents. But there can be no doubt that the widespread availability of firearms to those involved in crime makes mass killings more possible and more likely.

These killings are one of many reasons the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), in a new policy brief, is calling for the South African Police Service (SAPS) to develop an integrated strategy to reduce firearm crime. This should ensure clear and measurable reductions in all categories of crime associated with the use of guns.

Mass killings have become an embedded feature of violence in South Africa. The number of people killed in Lusikisiki is slightly higher than the death toll at the Mdlalose Tavern shooting in Soweto in July 2022, when 16 people were killed. In April 2023, 10 family members died in a single shooting incident in Imbali in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal province.

Mass killings have reached unprecedented levels in South Africa since the early 1990s. SAPS data for July-September 2023 showed 125 people killed in incidents with four or more deaths. Recently released data compiled by Gun Free South Africa showed a similar number had been murdered in shootings of four or more people in the past three months.

Firearms are crime enablers and violence multipliers. They make a massive contribution to crime-related deaths, injury and fear in South Africa. Police data indicates that guns were used in 12 000 to 16 000 murders in South Africa over the 2023/24 year. There were also between 17 000 and 20 000 cases of attempted murder, where people sustained non-fatal firearm injuries.

The severity and complexity of many of these injuries place an enormous burden on the healthcare system. Inga Mkoko, who was 25 at the time of the Mdlalose tavern shooting, spent three weeks in intensive care and six months in hospital. He had both legs amputated and lost four fingers.

Notwithstanding the large number of firearm-related deaths and injuries, guns are mostly used to threaten victims without the weapons being fired. Fear of firearms makes them the favoured instrument for coercion in robberies, extortion and some incidents of rape. They also play a major role in taxi violence and violent organised crimes such as extortion and conflict between gangs involved in the illegal drugs or mining trade.

The fact that criminals have the capacity to use equivalent levels of force to the police directly undermines the state’s ability to exercise authority. Virtually all killings of SAPS members are with firearms.

The SAPS must focus on reducing firearm crime. But it cannot do so using its established approach that relies mainly on the recovery of illegal firearms.

A key element is making optimal use of available data. As a starting point, police should use crime statistics to identify the areas where most firearm crime occurs. The recently released ISS policy brief illustrates how this can be done.

The SAPS should be able, quite easily, to map firearm crime. Effective mapping is vital to ensuring that police resources are deployed in a precise way, targeted at the groups involved and places where it’s occurring.

Beyond mapping, the SAPS should invest in strengthening information management systems to synthesise information on firearm crime. This includes crime reports, ballistic data, interviews with suspects, victims and witnesses, and details from sources in the community.

This process, along with crime investigation, should then be used to identify, arrest and prosecute perpetrators of firearm crime. This approach can also dramatically improve our understanding of where guns used in crime are coming from. Tracing the source of these weapons would allow for proactive interventions to close loopholes that enable criminal access to firearms.

Recovery of illegal firearms is not enough. South Africa needs a practical firearm reduction strategy that provides for collaboration between appropriate state, private sector and civil society role players. There is knowledge and experience of firearm crime reduction in South Africa and internationally that SAPS can draw on.

Effective implementation of an integrated firearm crime reduction strategy should be an exercise in learning how a more effective SAPS can work. Without it, gun crime is likely to continue devastating many families and communities.

Read the ISS policy brief ‘Targeting firearm crime will make South Africa safer’ by David Bruce, here.

Republished with permission from ISS Today, the original article can be found here.

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The South African Police Service (SAPS) said through intelligence and meticulous detective work, the high calibre firearms were recovered on Thursday evening (17 October).

“Preliminary investigations indicate that the firearms were moved to another location after the killing of the Lusikisiki eighteen,” the SAPS said.

Two more suspects have been arrested after they were found to be in possession of these rifles. The pair was arrested in Flagstaff in the Eastern Cape.

The firearms have been taken in for ballistics testing to determine and confirm that they were indeed used in the commission of the crime and to also determine which other crime scenes can be linked to them.

The National Police Commissioner, General Fannie Masemola, earlier thanked South Africans “for the overwhelming support in providing information on the whereabouts of the wanted suspects in the Lusikisiki mass murders.”

Masemola confirmed that in less than 24 hours from the time the SAPS issued an alert on the wanted suspects, communities rallied together and informed police on their whereabouts, resulting in all four suspects in police custody.

In the early hours of Saturday 28 September, two homesteads in the same street in Lusikisiki, Gqeberha, were attacked, leaving an initial 17 dead and 6 injured. In the first homestead, four people were shot and killed, with no survivors. At the second homestead, there were nineteen people shot in two different houses, with thirteen killed. The six survivors include four women and a two-month-old baby.

However, on Sunday 29 September, police confirmed the 18th victim had died in hospital.

Community members revealed that the family had all gathered at the homestead to hold a ceremony, marking the end of a period of mourning for two family members killed in a separate shooting a year earlier.

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The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said the man arrested in connection with the murders was out on parole for a separate murder when the massacre took place.

The suspect made his first appearance in the Lusikisiki Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday in connection with the massacre, which left five others injured.

“Siphosoxolo Myekethe is facing 18 charges of murder and one count of possession of an unlicensed firearm, an [AKM type] assault rifle. During his brief appearance in court, the accused elected to be represented by a Legal Aid attorney and expressed his intention to exercise his right to apply for bail.

“The prosecution will be opposing bail against the alleged murderer, who has two previous convictions for escaping from legal custody and murder. He is currently out on parole for murder,” NPA regional spokesperson Luxolo Tyali said in a statement.

Myekethe is expected back in court on 15 October.

Previously, the SAPS indicated in a statement that investigations into the killings were at “an advanced but sensitive stage in relation to the arrest of the suspects linked to the gruesome murder.”

On Tuesday, President Cyril Ramaphosa expressed deep sorrow following the killing of six community patrollers in Tina Falls/Godini on Sunday night. The patrollers were reportedly preparing for duty at their base at Lugongozo Senior Secondary School when attackers opened fire on the group. Six of the patrollers were fatally wounded, with four others injured in the attack.

The President offered his condolences to the families of the victims and extended wishes for a speedy recovery to the injured. Further, President Ramaphosa condemned the violence, describing it as a grave loss to the community and an assault on the efforts of ordinary citizens to maintain safety in their area.

The President had previously conveyed his condolences to the families of the 18 people killed last month.

Separately, Cabinet has applauded the successes of intelligence-led operations conducted in the Verulam and Highflats areas in KwaZulu-Natal.

“In the Verulam operation, police confronted a mastermind and one of the most wanted suspects in most of the cash-in-transit robberies in KwaZulu-Natal. The suspect was killed in a shootout after he opened fire against the police. Similarly, two suspects in the murder of seven people in the Highflats case were killed in a shootout with the police,” said a statement released by Cabinet.

According to reports last month, seven people, including three children, were allegedly killed in what appeared to be an execution-style attack, while sitting in their home.

Cabinet has applauded the continued success of Operation Shanela, which has garnered over 10 000 arrests over the previous week.

“Cabinet further commended a joint operation in Limpopo that led to the discovery of a drug lab in Lebowakgomo, where drugs to the value of approximately R4 million were seized and three suspects arrested,” said the statement from Cabinet.

It has also welcomed the arrest of six engineering firm directors accused of Black Economic Empowerment fronting and tender fraud of approximately R400 million at Eskom and Sasol.

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In the first homestead, four people were shot and killed, with no survivors. At the second homestead, there were nineteen people shot in two different houses, with thirteen killed. The six survivors include four women and a two-month-old baby.

However, on Sunday 29 September, police confirmed the 18^th victim had died in hospital. South African Police Service (SAPS) National Commissioner, General Fannie Masemola has vowed that police “will leave no stone unturned in solving cases and hunting down perpetrators.”

With the investigation still ongoing, it is currently unclear what the motive is. Community members revealed that the family had all gathered at the homestead to hold a ceremony, marking the end of a period of mourning for two family members killed in a separate shooting a year earlier.

The National Commissioner has mobilised maximum resources to ensure these killers are found, the SAPS said. The Commissioner has deployed a dedicated team of detectives and forensic experts, which include crime scene managers, from Pretoria to piece all evidence together in a bid to apprehend the criminals.

“We have full faith and confidence in the team that has been deployed to crack this case and find these criminals,” said the commissioner. He further added, “either they hand themselves over or we will fetch them ourselves.”

The Commissioner urged community members to work closely with police “in sharing information and providing tip-offs to ensure that collectively, we [can] create safer communities.”

“We urge our men and women in blue to continue to assert the authority of the state for the benefit of our communities,” said the Commissioner.

The shooting came a day after Minister of Police Senzo Mchunu was in Gqeberha for the signing of the Cooperation Agreement between the Eastern Cape Provincial Government, the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, and the SAPS. “This agreement marks a critical milestone in our collective effort to enhance safety and security in our communities,” noted the Minister.

“Unfortunately, for too many of our citizens in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro, the reality is that they do not feel safe,” said the Minister, adding that “it is unacceptable that Gqeberha, the heart of this metro, has earned the tragic distinction of being ranked 9th among the murder capitals of the world.”

“These are not just statistics, each number represents a life lost, a family devastated, and a community shaken. We owe it to the people of this region, and indeed the nation, to reverse this tide of violence,” said the Minister.

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