Members of the South African Police Service (SAPS) and forensic pathology service inspect the scene of a mass shooting in Soweto, South Africa, on July 10, 2022. /Ihsaan HAFFEJEE / AFP
The death toll from the Soweto tavern gun attack has risen to 16 after one more person succumbed to their injuries on Tuesday, according to a local official.
The new toll was confirmed by a Member of the Executive Council in the Gauteng Provincial Government, Faith Mazibuko, who also said police have obtained video footage of the gunmen involved in the Orlando East tavern shooting.
"Unfortunately we have also heard that the 16th person has succumbed to his injuries, a young man," Mazibuko said.
On Monday, Police Minister Bheki Cele said South African police had retrieved more than 130 spent AK-47 cartridges from the scene of the gun attack.
Sunday's attack came on the back of four other gun attacks that killed 10 people cumulatively.
The previous attacks saw two people shot dead in Katlehong, four in Pietermaritzburg, two in Inanda, and two in Duncan Village in East London.
The shootings were condemned by President Cyril Ramaphosa, who urged unity in the fight against crime in South Africa.
"As government and citizens structures of civil society, we must all work together and even more closely to improve social and economic conditions in communities. Reduce violent crimes and stamp out the illicit circulation of firearms," said Ramaphosa.
"Every single violent death is unacceptable and unwarranted. And killings on the scale we've seen in Soweto, Pietermaritzburg, and previously Khayelisha must spare us into a collective effort to build communities and make SA an unsafe place for criminals," he added.