S Africa teeters on edge of gun violence

Police on Sunday were hunting for suspects after three separate shootings in South Africa left 31 people dead, as the country grapples with a spate of violent crime.
South African police launched the manhunt after 17 people were killed and 15 wounded in a shooting in the township of Wedela in West Rand District outside Johannesburg on Saturday night.
Police said eight unidentified men opened fire on patrons drinking outside a tavern on Saturday evening local time, before they entered the establishment and “continued shooting at patrons inside.” The alleged assailants were reportedly armed with pistols and AK-47 rifles, officers said. 
In a separate statement, police said 10 people had been killed in a mass shooting at an entertainment venue selling grilled meat, known as a shisanyama, in Lwandle, near Cape Town. Another 11 people were wounded in that shooting. 
Also in Western Cape, police said they are investigating a quadruple murder following a shooting incident in the township of Khayelitsha at approximately 7:15pm Saturday evening.
The three attacks happened days after a mass shooting by three gunmen at a house party near the east coast city of Durban killed 11 people, including a pregnant woman.
Crime is expected to be a major issue for voters in municipal elections in November, when the African National Congress is facing further erosion of voter support. Fear and anger over high rates of femicide have risen after the discovery of women's bodies near Johannesburg since July. 
South African police were on Sunday hunting the perpetrators of the shooting incidents, which highlight the country's gun violence problem.
"This cannot go on like this," President Cyril Ramaphosa said of the incidents, which came only days after another shooting killed 11 people at a house party near Durban.
Authorities were still working to establish the motives for the shootings near Johannesburg and Cape Town, but initial investigations suggested one could be a turf war between illegal miners and the other a business rivalry.
Violent crime is rife in South Africa, despite efforts to curb one of the world's highest per-capita murder rates. Residents were reluctant to speak about the incident, but one said that illegal miners, known locally as zama zamas from an isiZulu expression for "taking a chance", live in the area, where powerful gangs control the illicit gold mining trade.
The province's police commissioner Tommy Mthombeni told reporters that one line of inquiry was that the shooting was a "turf war in terms of illegal mining". Saturday's shooting could be retaliation for another at the same tavern about a month ago, he added.
Soldiers and police pathologists had arrived in the township, where there were two burnt vehicles and the tavern where the shooting took place had a sign saying "No weapons allowed".