The suspect was arrested during a tracing operation in a Bronkhorstspruit township
A Gauteng man made his first appearance before the Bronkhorstspruit Magistrate’s Court on Thursday, in connection with a deadly shooting at Qedukoma Tavern.
The 33-year-old man from Benoni was arrested on 21 October and faces five counts of murder and three of attempted murder.
His name has been withheld until an identity parade has been conducted. The matter was postponed to 3 November for a formal bail application.
Suspects kill five and injure six
The South African Police Service (Saps) said the man is one of two suspects who opened fire at the Bronkhorstspruit tavern in the early hours of 5 October, killing five people and injuring six.
“It is reported by witnesses that two men, known in the community, came into the tavern and demanded that one of the patrons hand over his licensed firearm,” Gauteng Saps spokesperson Brigadier Brenda Muridili said.
“A shot went off and when the patrons ran outside, the suspects fired randomly. The patron with a firearm was shot and injured and his firearm was taken,” Muridili added.
The injured patrons were transported to nearby medical facilities for treatment.
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Muridili said the patron whose firearm was taken faces charges of contravention of the Firearms Control Act for the negligent handling of his 9mm pistol.
Police arrested one of the suspects during a tracing operation in Zithobeni, the township where the shooting happened.
A table ‘saved my life’
Speaking to News24 at the Bronkhorstspruit court on Thursday, one of the survivors said a table saved her life.
Deliwe Kabini, whose boyfriend Lesego Sedibeloane was killed in the incident, relayed how she hid behind a table as “bullets rained”.
“We were sitting around a table by the door when we heard gunshots,” she told the publication.
“As we were hiding, I saw Lesego lying on the floor, motionless and bleeding. The bullets just kept coming.
“Had it not been for that table, I would have been killed. It saved my life… people were shot and murdered right next to me,” Kabini said.
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