Fewer than three weeks after a mass shooting at a tavern in Gauteng, another attack in the province, this time in Bekkersdal, has left nine people dead.

Gauteng has been rocked by another mass shooting, this time in Bekkersdal in the early hours of Sunday, 21 December, when gunmen opened fire randomly into the KwaNoxolo tavern and into the streets. Nine people were killed.

And, as Gauteng Serious and Violent Crime Investigations, together with the Crime Detection Tracing Unit, launch a manhunt for the killers, the local municipality has red-flagged a "disturbing surge" in violent crime in the area, which it links to illegal miners, and called for the intervention of the South African Defence Force.

"The incident occurred just before 1am, in the Tambo section. It is reported that about 12 unknown suspects in a white kombi and a silver sedan opened fire at tavern patrons and continued to shoot randomly as they fled the scene," a police statement by Captain Tintswalo Sibeko reads.

The injured have been taken to medical facilities.

Gauteng deputy commissioner Fred Kekana told eNCA five of the deceased victims were in the tavern and three were in the street. The fourth was an e-hailing driver.

"We don't know the motive yet," he said.

It was the second mass shooting in Gauteng in recent weeks. On 6 December, three gunmen stormed...