South Africa’s many illegal guns a factor in bar shootings

By MOGOMOTSI MAGOME and SEBABATSO MOSAMO
Associated Press

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South African police are patrolling the streets of Johannesburg’s Soweto township, following a spate of bar shootings that have rocked the nation. Activists say the country’s abundance of guns held illegally is partially to blame for the shootings in which 22 people were killed at three different taverns this past weekend. At least 16 people were shot dead at a tavern in the township of Soweto while four others were killed in Pietermaritzburg and two were shot dead in Katlehong, east of Johannesburg. It’s not known if the different shootings are linked but experts say regional and ethnic rivalries, an extortion ring, competition between bar owners and political enmities are all possible motivations for the shootings.