12 killed in shooting at settlement near Johannesburg: South African police

JOHANNESBURG: Gunmen killed 12 people in an informal settlement near Johannesburg late on Tuesday, South African police said, in the latest mass shooting in a country struggling with high levels of violent crime.

Police said the attack took place before midnight in the Jumpers settlement, an impoverished area of metal shacks located about six kilometres east of Johannesburg’s city centre and close to an abandoned gold mine where illegal miners were living.

According to police, about 10 attackers were taken to the settlement in a vehicle and dropped off before moving into the area. A police spokeswoman said the assailants entered through both entrances, opened fire at several points on residents and community members, and then left in the same vehicle.

Colonel Dimakatso Nevhuhulwi said preliminary findings showed that 12 people were killed in the assault. She said eight adult men and three adult women died at the scene, while another victim later died in hospital.

Probe into motive

Police said no arrests had been made and the motive had not yet been established. However, provincial commissioner Lieutenant General Tommy Mthombeni said investigators suspected a possible link to rivalry tied to illegal mining in the area, which sits next to a legal mining zone.

At the scene, Mthombeni told reporters: