LEILA FADEL, HOST:
In South Africa, police are investigating who was behind two separate mass shootings that killed at least 27 people. NPR's Kate Bartlett reports mass shootings are an increasingly common occurrence, usually related to gangs.
KATE BARTLETT, BYLINE: It's been a bloody weekend in South Africa. South African police spokeswoman, Brigadier Brenda Muridili, said 17 people were killed in the one shooting, which took place at a bar in a township near Johannesburg.
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BRENDA MURIDILI: The suspects, who were reportedly armed with AK-47 rifles and pistols, fled the scene in two vehicles.
BARTLETT: A separate shooting at a shisanyama - local restaurant selling barbecued meat - near Cape Town killed 10. The two shootings come just days after an attack on a house party in the coastal city of Durban killed 12 people, including a pregnant woman. South Africa has some of the highest violent crime rates in the world, recording about 60 murders a day. Often mass shooting incidents like these are linked to gangs and organized crime, sometimes surrounding activities involving illegal gold miners, known as zama-zamas. President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed the shootings.
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PRESIDENT CYRIL RAMAPHOSA: We cannot be a country where people just pick up guns and start shooting at people at random.
BARTLETT: Earlier this year, he deployed the army in some of the worst affected areas. Separately, there has been a spate of femicides in Johannesburg. On Saturday, a 10th woman's body was discovered despite police promises to crack down on gender-based violence.
Kate Bartlett, NPR News, Johannesburg.
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