• South Africa recorded 284 incidents in which more than two people were murdered at a time between April and June this year.
• In these incidents, 664 people were murdered. 
• The Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal each recorded an incident where six people were murdered.

A total of 284 dockets were opened where two or more people died at a time between April and June, which included the recent spate of tavern shootings.

In this period, 664 murders were recorded for those dockets.

On Friday, Minister of Police Bheki Cele, along with police management, released the quarterly statistics.

Within the statistics, a breakdown was given of multiple murders. This is where two or more people are murdered in a single incident.

KwaZulu-Natal recorded 84 multiple murders involving 205 victims, followed by Gauteng with 75 incidents in which 175 people were killed, and the Eastern Cape with 54 dockets opened for 117 victims.

READ | Crime stats: More than 6 400 people murdered in SA in just three months, over 40% killed by guns

During this time, both the Western Cape and KZN each recorded an incident in which six people were killed.

Gauteng recorded eight incidents where four people were murdered while in KZN, four people were murdered on six different occasions.

In the incident where six people were killed in the Western Cape, police said the murders were possibly linked to retaliation.

This was the same for the six people killed in KZN when unknown men stormed into a home during a cleansing ceremony.

Tavern mass shootings

Not all the multiple murders are linked to taverns, shebeens, night clubs or bottle stores. However, police did report that between April and June, 227 people were murdered at liquor outlets.

Tavern murders involving multiple victims have been widely reported in recent months.