By AFP
South African Police Service (SAPS) officers accompanied by forensic technicians carry the body of a victim at the Jumpers informal settlement in Cleveland, east of Johannesburg, on June 10, 2026.
picture: Emmanuel Crosette
South African police say gunmen attacked an informal settlement in Johannesburg and shot dead 12 people overnight, the latest mass shooting in a crime-weary country.
Police said the shooting occurred just before midnight on Tuesday (local time) at a poor hut made of metal and wood where illegal miners were living and working.
About 10 attackers were taken to Jumpers Basti and released before attacking the area, a police spokesman said.
“The suspects reportedly entered the informal settlement from both entrances and drove across the area, opening fire on residents and community members at several locations before fleeing the scene in the same vehicle,” he said.
“Preliminary investigations show that 12 people died as a result of the attack,” said Colonel Dimakatso Nevuhulvi.
“Eight adult males and three adult females were declared dead at the scene,” he said.
One person died in hospital.
illegal mining
is south africa Loaded with legal and illegal firearmsAnd shootings are common, often caused by gang rivalries and competition between informal businesses.
The attack was about six kilometers east of the Johannesburg city center and in an area near abandoned gold mines.
Police said the motive was not yet known and no arrests had been made, but suspected it to be related to competition over illegal mining in the area.
“As you know, this area is adjacent to an illegal mining area. We suspect this,” provincial commissioner Lieutenant General Tommy Mthombeni told reporters at the scene.
He said, “One can call this incident insane, heartless and to some extent barbaric.”
Mthombeni said police had searched the area three weeks ago and seized guns and ammunition for AK-47 rifles, as well as arresting three people.
Police did not say who was killed, but a resident told the eNCA broadcaster that people from neighboring Lesotho lived in the settlement.
A local ward councilor who visited the scene said the attackers fired on a hut built on an informal mine shaft before moving on to nearby taverns, Sunday World media site reported.
Neuron Peterson was quoted as saying, “It looked like a well-planned ambush that was very targeted.”
Following the attack, officials were seen carrying away equipment linked to illegal mining activities.
Illegal mining in South Africa attracts people from across southern Africa and has been linked to organized crime, murder, extortion and other illegal activities.
Clandestine artisanal miners have become a strong presence around Johannesburg and its satellite settlements along the gold reef.
Driven by poverty and unemployment, the Zama Zamas – which means “those who try” in the Zulu language – descend deep into the gold-bearing shafts still left by mining companies.
In a mass shooting linked to rivalry between illegal mining gangs, Nine people were murdered in December when gunmen opened fire at a bar in the poor Bakersdal township, south-west of Johannesburg.
In March, troops moved into violence hotspots in Johannesburg to support police efforts to tackle rampant crime, which President Cyril Ramaphosa described as one of the biggest threats facing the country.
– AFP