An independent policing expert says that an integrated approach is key to curbing mass shootings. Pictured is the scene of the Atteridgeville mass shooting that left 12 people dead. Mass shootings have ravaged at least five of South Africa’s nine provinces in 2025, prompting experts to call for an integrated approach by the entire criminal justice cluster and relevant stakeholders to stamp these out.
Western Cape, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, and Eastern Cape had mass shootings where four or more people were killed. Also, these provinces have multiple triple murder incidents. On December 6, 2025, at least 12 people were killed and 13 others injured when three gunmen entered an unlicensed tavern at a migrant workers’ hostel in Saulsville, west of Pretoria.
The victims included children aged 3, 12, and 16. On Tuesday, a suspect linked to the Saulsville matter appeared before the Polokwane Magistrate’s Court on a charge of unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition. On Wednesday, he will appear again in Atteridgeville, where he is facing 12 counts of murder and 13 counts of attempted murder.
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In a separate incident, nine people were killed, and 10 were wounded at the KwaNoxolo tavern in Bekkersdal, west of Johannesburg, on December 21, 2025. Police later arrested 11 suspects, several of whom were linked to illegal mining. On June 6, 2025, in what police identified as taxi-related violence, gunmen opened fire at the old taxi rank in Mfuleni, killing four people and leaving three others seriously injured.
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