The South African authorities said that a motive behind the killing of 17 people in two mass shootings remains unknown.
But Police Minister, Senzo Mchunu, stressed at a news briefing on Saturday that law enforcement agencies had mobilised crime scene and forensic experts from the capital, Pretoria, to investigate the case.
“We have full faith and confidence in the team that has been deployed to crack this case and find these criminals. Either they hand themselves over or we will fetch them ourselves,” Mchunu said.
The shootings took place in close proximity to each other on Friday night in the town of Lusikisiki in Eastern Cape province.
Police video
The victims were 15 women and two men, police said. One other person was in critical condition in the hospital.
Video released by police showed that the shootings occurred at two houses in the same neighborhood, which is a collection of rural homesteads on the outskirts of the town.
Twelve women and a man were killed in one house and three women and a man were killed in the other house, police said.
Four women, one man and a 2-month-old baby survived.
Local media reported that the people were attending a family gathering at the time of the shooting, but the motive for the killings remains unknown.
South Africa, a country of 62 million, recorded 12,734 homicides in the first six months of this year, according to official crime statistics from the police.
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