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A South African Police Service graphic, illustrating a hunt for shooting suspects.
City of Tshwane deputy mayor, Eugene Modise, has blamed the killing of 11 people at a shebeen inside a hostel in Saulsville, west of Pretoria, on what he describes as desperate South African nationals renting out space to undocumented foreign nationals.
At least 11 people were killed in the mass shooting, which happened in the early hours of this morning.
Among the dead are a three-year-old and a 12-year-old child. 14 others were injured and are being treated in hospital.
Police say the owner of the establishment, who is among those injured, is also the mother of the two- and three-year-old children who died.
In October, five people were killed at a tavern in Ezithobeni similarly.
#sapsHQ [SAULSVILLE UPDATE] 25 shot, 11 confirmed dead, 14 survivors and all are in hospital. #SAPS has launched a manhunt for three unknown suspects.
Three minors are among those deceased which include 3 and 12 year-old boys, 16-year-old female. The rest of those deceased are… pic.twitter.com/mQLtrp7q2N
— SA Police Service 🇿🇦 (@SAPoliceService) December 6, 2025
Modise says it is difficult to trace the perpetrators because of their illegal status in the country.
“Unfortunately, I’m going to say it bluntly: our residents are desperate, and in the process, they rent out to criminals who are coming from elsewhere, and they don’t have identification of them, and in the process, they harbour criminals. But now here, the poor person is trying to make ends meet with a tavern, and that has attracted criminals to this area. Unfortunately, there’s no access control, there’s no administration, you just rent it out, and there’s no documentation.”
VIDEO | Saulsville death toll rises to 11:
