Two mass shootings in South Africa kill at least 27

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The first massacre took place late Saturday night near Johannesburg. 

The second happened in the early hours of today near Cape Town. 

No arrests had been made in the two shootings, which came just five days after another mass shooting in a township near the city of Durban killed at least 11 people.

The South African Police Service said that 17 people were killed on Saturday night when eight suspects armed with AK-47 rifles and pistols opened fire at a bar in Wedela township, south-west of South Africa’s biggest city of Johannesburg, at 9.30am.

The suspects shot at customers outside the bar, then moved inside to continue the killing. 

The victims included 13 men and four women. At least 15 others sustained gunshot injuries, according to police, who said the gunmen searched some of the patrons and took their mobile phones before escaping in two vehicles.

About four hours later, 10 people were killed and 11 were wounded in a mass shooting after 1am at a store in Lwandle township near Cape Town, South Africa’s second biggest city. 

Police said they were searching for multiple suspects.

On Tuesday night, 11 people were killed, including a pregnant woman, in an attack by multiple gunmen at a house party in KwaMakhutha township south of Durban. Police have not reported any arrests.

A high rate of killings is a long standing problem for South Africa, but mass shootings are becoming more common.

There were 5,427 murders in South Africa in the latest three-month period between April and June at an average of nearly 60 murders a day, according to official police statistics.