Police Intensify Manhunt After Saulsville Massacre as SAPS Warns of Rising Tavern Killings

By Bheki Dlamini

PRETORIA — The smell of gunpowder still hung faintly in the air when National Police Commissioner General Fannie Masemola stepped onto the blood-stained gravel outside the small, illegal tavern where twelve people were gunned down over the weekend. Thirteen others lie in hospital, some fighting for their lives, after yet another mass shooting tore through a community already rattled by weeks of violence.

“We gather this afternoon at the crime scene where twelve people lost their lives,” Masemola said, surveying the taped-off yard where panic and gunfire erupted just after sunset. “Three suspects are still at large, but our detectives and uniformed police are working around the clock to find these killers.”

The shooting, the third mass killing of its kind in Gauteng since July, has once again exposed the deadly combination of illegal liquor outlets, unregulated firearms, and deepening criminal networks that police say are now driving violent crime in the province.

A Province Under Siege

The Saulsville attack comes as Gauteng battles soaring crime rates. Recent statistics show the province leads the country in reported hijackings, kidnappings, murders and rape, a trend Masemola attributes to “the proliferation of illegal taverns, alcohol abuse and drug trafficking,” which he described as “main drivers of violent crime.”

Since April, police have inspected 41,366 liquor premises in Gauteng alone and shut down 2,906 unlicensed outlets. But with illegal taverns continuing to sprout in backrooms, shacks, and converted family homes, law enforcement is fighting a hydra.

READ MORE: 11 Killed, 14 Injured In Pretoria Tavern Shooting

In Saulsville, the owner of the room where the shooting took place, one of the injured survivors, has already been charged for operating without a license. It is a familiar pattern: a cramped drinking spot, open secrets about who supplies weapons or drugs, and communities too fearful to speak until tragedy strikes.

Nationally, the numbers paint an even grimmer picture.

Since the start of the SAPS Safer Festive Season operations on October 13:

• 3,665 illegal taverns and shebeens have been shut down
• 6,641 suspects arrested for selling liquor illegally
• 297,804 litres of illicit alcohol seized and destroyed
• 113,727 suspects arrested countrywide
• 33,505 of them wanted for serious and violent crimes including murder, rape and attempted murder
• 18,600 suspects caught with drugs

“The results show our efforts are working,” Masemola insisted, “but incidents like this remind us that we must intensify our operations. We leave nothing to chance.”

Still, the pattern is unmistakable. Since July:

• Six people were killed in an illegal shebeen in Olivenhoutbosch.
• Five more were murdered at Zithobeni Tavern in Bronkhorstspruit.
• Now Saulsville adds another twelve names to the growing list.

In each case, police say illegal liquor trading, criminal rivalries, and the availability of automatic rifles have converged into deadly flashpoints.

Even as investigators comb the Saulsville scene, Crime Intelligence units notched crucial victories hours before Masemola addressed the media.

READ MORE: ‘A Mafia-Style Execution’: Inside the Murder That Shook the Madlanga Commission

“Just this morning,” he revealed, “a crime intelligence-driven operation intercepted six suspects on their way to commit a CIT robbery in the West Rand. Two firearms, including a rifle, have been seized.”

In a separate raid, officers dismantled a drug laboratory worth more than R100 million in Makapanstad, arresting six suspects and seizing manufacturing equipment.

“These operations show our commitment to dismantling organised crime syndicates,” Masemola said. “We will not stop.”

Fears of Witness Targeting After Van Der Merwe Killing

Masemola also addressed concerns linked to the murder of Marius van der Merwe, a witness at the Madlanga Commission, whose assassination sparked national outrage.

“Three persons of interest have been identified, and one has been questioned,” Masemola confirmed. “We are confident that soon we will register a breakthrough.”

The National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (NATJOINTS), together with the Commission, has now finalised a security plan to “heighten and enhance protection around officials and witnesses.”

With public trust shaken, Masemola urged communities to partner with the police: “If you see something, say something.”

For residents of Saulsville, grief is quickly giving way to anger. Many say they warned authorities for months about the illegal tavern operating just metres from family homes. Now they are left planning funerals while police search for gunmen who fled into the night.

As December festivities gather pace, Masemola’s message was blunt: “We request the cooperation of communities in making this festive season safe.”