In an incident at a taxi stand in a coastal town of Port Shepstone in South Africa on Tuesday, July 25, four people were killed while sitting in a minibus, and another four were injured. 

The motivation behind the attack remains uncertain, escalating the count of mass shootings in the country to 36 since the beginning of the year.

South Africa, home to 60 million people, has grappled with soaring homicide rates, ranking among the world’s highest. Police records indicate that the first quarter of 2023 experienced an average of 30 firearm-related deaths per day.

Brig. Jay Naicker, the police spokesperson, confirmed the latest incident’s resemblance to previous attacks, characterized by multiple assailants indiscriminately opening fire on civilians. 

The country bore witness to a notable mass shooting last April when armed individuals launched a pre-dawn assault on a residence, resulting in ten casualties, including seven women and a 13-year-old boy.

While the majority of these incidents employ illicit firearms, they emphasize the larger issue of South Africa’s soaring crime rate, extending beyond offenses involving firearms.