Eight people were killed in gun shootout on Sunday in the city of Port-Elisabeth, the South African police announced Monday adding that three others were wounded in the incident.
The law reinforcement institution in a statement indicated that unidentified armed men sneaked into a private property and opened fire on a group of people celebrating a birthday in a township, in the coastal city.
Nomthetheleli Mene, the Chief of Eastern Cape province, indicated that motive of the shooting is unknown but added they have launched probe into the incident to arrest the culprits.
The rainbow nation is dogged by high criminality. Last week eight people were killed in two separate shootings in KwaZulu-Natal province in the east of the country.
Bheki Cele, the minister of police, was recently in the parliament to answer questions by lawmakers on criminality. Cele painted a gloomy picture.
The Minister indicated over 7,000 killings committed during the Q3 last year, accounting for 13.6 per cent up from previous data of same period in 2021.