PRESS STATEMENT
SOCIALIST PARTY OF AZANIA [SOPA]

The Socialist Party of Azania condemns in the strongest terms the mass shooting in Wedela last night, where gunmen opened fire on tavern patrons and 17 people were killed.

We send our deepest condolences to the families, friends, and community of Wedela. To those injured and traumatized, we stand with you. This massacre is a crime against the working class and must be met with immediate justice.

1. THIS IS PREJUDICE-BASED VIOLENCE ROOTED IN SYSTEMIC FAILURE

Prejudice-based violence is not a series of isolated incidents. It reflects deeper social divisions and systemic inequalities.

While we await full details of motive, the attack on working class people in a community space speaks to a society where life is cheap, fear is normalized, and vulnerable communities are left unprotected.

Acts of aggression motivated by identity, class, nationality, gender and location are often classified as hate crimes. But prejudice-based violence extends far beyond legal definitions. It includes the everyday discrimination, exclusion, dehumanization, unemployment and poverty that escalate into bloodshed and reinforce structural oppression.

2. SOUTH AFRICA’S CONTEXT

South Africa’s history of apartheid institutionalized racial hierarchy and economic exclusion. That legacy remains.
Today we face:

1. Xenophobic attacks on migrants and refugees
2. Gender-based violence epidemic against women and LGBTQ+ people
3. Class violence against poor and working class people denied safety, jobs, and dignity

Unequal access to resources, unemployment, poverty, and institutional discrimination continue to reinforce these divisions. When the state fails to deliver housing, jobs, lights, and policing, it creates the conditions where violence thrives.

The Wedela massacre must be understood through this framework. It is interconnected with the broader oppression of our people.

3. SOPA’S SOCIALIST RESPONSE

For socialists, the struggle against prejudice-based violence is inseparable from the broader struggle against capitalism, exploitation, and inequality. Prejudice is not merely an individual attitude. It is reinforced by a system that divides working people along lines of race, nationality, gender, and class to weaken our collective power.

We therefore demand both immediate protection and long-term transformation:

IMMEDIATE:

1. Thorough investigation and arrests – No impunity for the perpetrators of the Wedela massacre.
2. 24-hour victim support – Counseling, funeral assistance, and medical care for victims and families.
3. Visible, accountable policing – Community safety in all townships and working class areas. More lights, safe public spaces.

STRUCTURAL:

1. Economic Justice – Decent work, housing, healthcare, education, and social protection. Poverty breeds division.
2. Policy Reform – Enforce anti-discrimination laws. Inclusive education. Training for police and the justice system.
3. Community Action – Build grassroots organizations and solidarity networks that unite workers, migrants, women, LGBTQ+ people, and all marginalized communities against prejudice.

CONCLUSION

We reject a South Africa where 17 people can be gunned down in a tavern and the government responds with silence.
We reject a system that profits from our division.

The answer is not more policing of the poor alone. The answer is PEOPLE BEFORE PROFIT.
The answer is a united movement of the working class to challenge both prejudice and the material conditions that sustain it.

We call on all Azanians to mobilize, organize, and unite.
Only through solidarity and collective struggle can we build a society founded on equality, dignity, democracy, and collective liberation.

Amandla!

Issued by:
Secretary General
SOCIALIST PARTY OF AZANIA [SOPA]
Contact: Cde Thami Hukwe 0623090468