## Eighteen people have been killed in a mass shooting in a remote South African town with a manhunt under way to find the perpetrators, police say.
Two homesteads on the same street in the town of Lusikisiki, in the Eastern Cape, were targeted, police said, with 12 women and one man killed in one location, and three women and one man at a second location.
The 18th victim died in hospital on Sunday, as reported by South Africa Police Service (SAPS). So far no arrests have been made; no new developments according to the police statement of yesterday 5 August [2023]. In Nyathi village people were traumatized and frightened. The attackers broke down doors with their feet, shooting at women as they tried to run into rooms during a traditional mourning ceremony for mother and daughter who had been murdered the year before (on 18 August).
Six survivors - four females, one male adult plus an infant of two months were reported in another house with no injuries but taken straight away from where they sought safety to hospital. The police spokesperson said earlier that the child was uninjured and had been taken to a local emergency ward as a precautionary measure, while the survivors are still fearful of an attack should it recur (on 17 August).
There were no other reports from our reporter in Lusikisiki yesterday. A team of forensic experts had been deployed to piece all [the] evidence together "in a bid" - the police statement quotes Minister Mchunu: To apprehend these brutal criminals and identify them as soon as possible with help from crime scene managers in Pretoria.
Xolile Nqatha, Regional cabinet member for community safety said on SABC yesterday that he hopes a speedy recovery of the critically injured survivor can provide more information about perpetrators and motive (on 5 August [2023]). "They might know him or her", as I suggested.
South Africa has one of highest murder rates in world, according to United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime figures for last year alone: More than 45 murders per 100 thousand people - 6/km². The US rate is six times lower (on 3 September [2023]).
The SAPS statement yesterday, by the way mentioned that it had received a tip from an unnamed witness. No specifics of where or when she saw something out-of-theordinary in Nyathi village - but Additional reporting done this morning 17 August [2023] by Aleks Phillips here at #dailymaverick (see above).
