African National Congress (ANC) spokesperson Pule Mabe says the safety of patrons is the responsibility of tavern owners and not the country's security cluster.

Mabe added that the South African Police Service (SAPS) could not be expected to police all corners of society.

He was speaking on Sunday in response to a spate of shootings at taverns in Gauteng over the weekend.  

In Soweto, 15 people were killed, and in Katlehong, two others were murdered. A shooting was also reported in Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu-Natal. 

Mabe said it would be unreasonable to expect the country's security cluster to dedicate a team to police taverns.

"The national security cluster is not responsible for these establishments that sell alcohol. The expectation is that those who run those establishments have got to go an extra mile to protect their patrons," he said on the sidelines of the ANC Gauteng conference. Just imagine that we have to deal with gender-based violence, violent crimes, and suddenly we must establish a dedicated unit in the South African Police Service that now looks at taverns. It's not going to be possible," he said.

He added that it was a concern that the deaths all occurred at establishments that sell alcohol.  

"We had 21 [teens] who passed on at Enyobeni tavern in the Eastern Cape. In Soweto, there were 15 people. All of these incidences are happening at taverns. It's coincidental, but we need to have a conversation," Mabe said. 

Gauteng Premier David Makhura said the tavern in Soweto was licensed and that the people who were killed there were adults, but Mabe added that the age limit and licensing rules for alcohol-serving venues had to be probed.  

"We have got to discuss the minimum threshold for you to get a licence to operate a tavern. We also need to discuss what security measures you are putting in place to protect patrons. If we don't, people will continue to lose their lives," he said.