Carletonville Tavern Massacre: Witness Says Gunmen Used His House 3 Times to Reload Rifles

• A witness to the Dora's Tavern shooting in Wedela said armed men entered his home multiple times during the attack on 26 September 2026
• The gunmen allegedly used the neighbour's house to reload their rifles between bursts of fire that left 18 people dead
• A second witness estimated the shooting lasted more than 40 minutes and suggested a possible link to rival illegal mining groups

GAUTENG — A man whose home sits adjacent to Dora's Tavern in Wedela, Carletonville, has given a harrowing account of how gunmen repeatedly used his house as a staging point during the massacre that killed 18 people on the night of 26 September 2026.

The witness told News24 he was outside his home when a group of armed men forced their way inside. He immediately ran and hid under his bed.

Gunmen enter home three times to reload

From his hiding spot, the man said he heard the attackers load their rifles before heading outside and opening fire on patrons at the tavern. The gunmen returned to the house on two further occasions to reload, each time going back out to continue the attack. By his account, this sequence repeated itself three times before the shooting finally stopped.

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He remained under the bed for more than 30 minutes after the last shots were fired before cautiously emerging.

"I was shocked by what I saw. Some people were lying dead and some were lying wounded outside my front door," he said.

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Second witness describes 40-minute ordeal

Abongile Mbangathe, who was working behind the till when the shooting broke out at around 9:30pm, said the attack lasted for more than 40 minutes. She fled into a room inside the main house and watched the assault unfold from there.

"I watched them spraying bullets with machine guns, leave and return to finish off what they started," Mbangathe said.

She also raised the possibility that the attack may be connected to rival illegal mining factions, noting that a confrontation between two groups had reportedly taken place outside the tavern roughly two years earlier.

Police have not confirmed any motive, and investigations into the massacre are continuing as authorities work to identify the perpetrators and establish what prompted the attack.

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Ramaphosa speaks on the mass shooting

Briefly News also reported that President Cyril Ramaphosa has condemned the mass shooting at a Wedela tavern in the West Rand that left 18 people dead on Saturday night, 26 September 2026. He vowed that security forces would spare no effort in combating violent crime. Ramaphosa described the attack as evidence of an urgent national crisis, stating that technology was already being deployed to assist police in tracking down the eight suspected gunmen believed to be responsible for the killings.

Source: Briefly News