WATCH | Residents gripped by fear after mass shooting kills 12 in east Joburg

Residents ofJumpers Informal Settlementhave described how they mistook gunshots, that rang through the area and left 12 people dead, for fireworks, until they heard screaming. Ten other people were wounded in the shooting in east Johannesburg on Tuesday night. Police were still combing the scene on Wednesday afternoon looking for clues.

The residents, who said they were still fearful for their lives, reported that they heard the sounds some time after 8pm. JOBURG MASS SHOOTING | Jumpers informal settlement resident Gibson Fakude, 38, says when he heard the gunshots on Tuesday night, he thought they were fireworks. Police say 12 people were killed while several others were injured.https://t.co/M4eGF1GamNVideo:@Koena_xMpic.twitter.com/B4SSybRbLp Eunice Sithole, an elderly resident who lives close to one of the crime scenes, said she initially thought the gunshots were fireworks.

“I was sleeping when it happened. I initially thought someone was on the roof, and then I heard what sounded like fireworks hitting my roof and my neighbour’s roof. “It wasn’t until I listened more carefully and heard people screaming that I realised it was gunfire.

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I immediately dived under my bed to hide. I was too scared,” Sithole said. “I’ve lived here for a long time, but I didn’t know the people who were shot.

I know it happened at a tavern. It is not the first time this has happened. In 2025, they shot and killed a woman who was my neighbour.” Sithole said she feared for her safety and was unsure whether she would feel safe sleeping at night.

“I’m really scared. As you see me standing here, I’m thinking, ‘what if it happens to me next’? “We don’t really know what happened here or what those people were involved in.

What if they come back? I’m afraid to sleep at night,” she said.

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