Residents of the Jumpers informal settlement in Cleveland, Johannesburg, describe how they've lived in fear for years, long before a massacre claimed 12 lives.

"Cleveland is hell on earth. Our children do not know peace," Dorah Molefi (46) told Daily Maverick on Thursday, 11 June.

"There is no fear of the police, making this area feel isolated."

Residents of the Jumpers informal settlement and business owners in the surrounding Cleveland, Johannesburg, area say they have lived with violence and intimidation for years before the mass shooting in which 12 people died and 15 were injured, on Tuesday night, 9 June 2026.

While police are still investigating the attack, some in the community suspect it may be linked to illegal mining in the area. Molefi, who has lived in Jumpers for almost two years, said she knew some of the victims.

"Some of those I knew were ordinary members of the community, and whether they were involved in illegal mining or not, I cannot say."

At approximately 11.10pm on Tuesday night, police responded to reports of a mass shooting. Ten heavily armed men had reportedly arrived at the settlement in a white Toyota Quantum minibus before allegedly indiscriminately opening fire on Jumpers residents.

Read more An hour of terror: what happened when 10 gunmen entered a Joburg settlement killing 12 June 10, 2026...