SPECIAL REPORT | Mdlalose's tavern shooting
Sixteen people were killed and seven were injured when a group of men armed with AK-47s and pistols opened fire at Mdlalose’s tavern at Nomzamo informal settlement in Orlando, Soweto, on 10 July. Over 130 AK-47 cartridges were found at the scene.
Here is a package of stories on what has happened since then:
The survivors of the Mdlalose tavern's mass shooting in Nomzamo informal settlement in Soweto are relieved that the identities of the five men believed to have been behind the shooting have been released, but they believe they will only get closure once the suspects explain their actions in court.
This week police released the identities of the men who are believed to be behind the shooting that left 16 people dead and several others injured at the Soweto tavern in July.
The ruling All Basotho Convention (ABC) party in Lesotho has instructed its five members who are wanted in SA for the Soweto tavern massacre to hand themselves over to the SA Police Service (SAPS).
On Wednesday the ABC leader Nkaku Kabi held a press conference in Lesotho where he instructed Terene ya Khosi Mokata leader Sarel “Lehlanya” Sello and his members Tshepiso Elliot Radebe, Thabang Radikatara, Tshidiso Moleko and Keletso Rabasotho to go to SA to face the music. The suspects are being harboured in Lesotho.
Police minister Bheki Cele last month met with Sarel “Lehlanya” Sello – one of the most wanted men by police in SA for the Soweto tavern shooting – but let him go.
Sello is the leader of Terene ya Khosi Mokata, a Lesotho group whose five members are wanted by SAPS for the murder of 16 people at Mdlalose's tavern in Soweto on July 10. The mass killings happened when a group of armed men, who were targeting another gang member, walked into the tavern and randomly shot at patrons, injuring seven other people.
The Lesotho government says it has not been approached by South African law enforcement agencies regarding five identified suspects in the Mdlalose's tavern mass murder case.
The neighbouring country also distanced itself from the shooting incident, but it indicated that it will assist if suspected killers are hiding in the Mountain Kingdom.
One of the suspects wanted for the Mdlalose's tavern mass killing is a leader of a Lesotho group that is said to be linked to Zama-zamas and enjoys the support of the ruling party in the mountain kingdom.
Sarel Lehlanya Sello is part of five wanted suspects who were revealed by the South African Police Service yesterday. The wanted men are believed to be all from Lesotho and they are Sello, Tshepiso Elliot Radebe, Thabang Radikatara, Tshidiso Moleko and Keletso Rabasotho.
It is just after midnight on Sunday July 10.
Five men casually walk down a dark street in Nomzamo informal settlement in Orlando East, Soweto, visibly carrying firearms.
Four are carrying pistols and one is holding down an AK47 assault rifle.
Oblivious to the CCTV camera capturing the moment, their faces can be clearly identified and in seconds, they disappear down the dark street as the area is experiencing power cuts due to cable theft.
Minutes later, 14 people would be shot dead at Mdlalose’s Tavern, a brutal incident that shocked the nation.
Gauteng community safety MEC Faith Mazibuko says police have obtained footage of the tavern shooting that happened in Orlando East, Soweto.
Speaking to eNCA at a prayer meeting for the families of people who were gunned down at Mdlalose's Tavern in Nomzamo, Mazibuko did not reveal how police got the footage.
As police search for the killers behind last month’s mass shooting at Mdlalose’s tavern, some victims are in hiding, fearing the shooters may return to finish the job.
A travel and tourism student who was shot seven times during the attack is among those nursing their wounds in hiding. The 20-year-old was discharged from hospital two weeks ago and he has since remained indoors where he is bedridden and has been issued with a walking frame to help his mobility.
*Thanduxolo, a Damelin travel and tourism student who survived the Soweto tavern shooting, lies in hospital with seven bullets, in excruciating pain and haunted by a senseless attack that may forever change his life.
Three bullets hit his arm, another three penetrated his leg and another hit him in the back. Thanduxolo, 20, and his friend Mandla, 23, were among the 23 patrons who were ambushed by unknown gunmen at Mdlalose's Tavern in Orlando on Sunday morning. Mandla was shot three times, in the abdomen and thigh.
The sound of crying family members echoed around the packed Umzimkhulu hall during the memorial service for the 13 people from KwaZulu-Natal who were killed in a shooting at a tavern in Soweto, Johannesburg, two weeks ago.
All 13 were from Umzimkhulu on the south coast.
They were among 16 people who lost their lives when gunmen opened fire at the Mdlalose tavern in Nomzamo, Orlando East. Seven other people were wounded in the ordeal.
These are some of the people who died in the Soweto tavern shooting on Sunday morning. Most of them came to Gauteng from KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape to look for job opportunities and to better their family circumstances.
They were aged between 19 and 54, with some employed as general workers while one of the young victims aspired to become a professional soccer player.
The police patrols which have become a common feature in Nomzamo settlement in Soweto where 16 people were shot and killed at a tavern last week are yet to result in any arrest.
Contrary to the overzealous and hyped up threats of “Amaberete going door-to-door searching for guns” as announced by police minister Bheki Cele outside Emazulwini Tavern on Monday, patrols have seemed to be nothing more but a sideshow for the media.
For 10 minutes *Andile squeezed his body underneath the pool table at Mdlalose’s Tavern in Orlando East, Soweto, while a man with an AK-47 stood by the door, about two metres from him, randomly shot at patrons.
As injured patrons fell on the floor next the shaken Andile, the AK-47-wielding man ran away and seconds later, two more men armed with 9mm guns walked in to finish off whoever they thought was still alive. The three gunmen then sped off, leaving behind horrific scenes that shocked the country yesterday morning.
The spate of shootings in taverns in Soweto, Katlehong and Pietermaritzburg at the weekend do not appear to have been co-ordinated, police minister Bheki Cele said on Monday.
Speaking to residents in Soweto, Cele said: “There is that thing [allegations] that it could have been a co-ordinated weekend. We don't have that information as police .... We had separate issues, especially the Pietermaritzburg one, Nomzamo one and the Katlehong one. They happened in shebeens, but we believe that they coincided rather than [were] co-ordinated.”
Nor did the shootings, which claimed at least 21 lives, seem to be acts of terrorism, he said.