1992 Ladysmith shooting

On 20 January 1992, a mass shooting occurred in and around Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, perpetrated by Carel Johannes Delport, a farm worker known as "Kallie." The shooting began at the Delport family farm in Allerkraal after an argument between Delport and his father, Marthiens Delport, over the sale of three calves. When his father indicated he would give the sale proceeds to his stepmother, Delport armed himself with a .357 Magnum revolver and shot his father dead on the veranda. He then shot and killed the farm's housemaid, Makhozana Alzina Ntombela, in the kitchen, and set fire to his room and car, which eventually burned the house down. About 750 metres from the farm, he killed two black men, Msamaniso Mdladla and Petros Ndlala, who had come to buy the calves.

Delport then drove toward Ladysmith intending to burn his stepmother's car, but upon failing to locate it, he began shooting at people in the street with a Ruger Mini-14 rifle. He continued firing in the parking lot of a shopping centre, killing several more people, including traffic officer Prithlal Rambally, and wounding 11 others. Fleeing police, he drove toward Newcastle and shot at commuters in a bus, wounding six. He was eventually arrested after a chase and shootout with police outside Ladysmith, during which two officers were wounded. Police recovered the rifle, four 30-round magazines, the revolver, and over 3,600 rounds of ammunition from his truck. In total, nine people were killed and at least 17 wounded; most of those killed were black, which heightened racial tensions in the area, including a crowd outside the courthouse that threatened to lynch Delport during his trial.

Delport had a documented history of mental illness, including two prior acquittals on manslaughter charges after shooting cattle thieves, and family members had unsuccessfully asked his father not to allow him to possess firearms. A post-shooting psychiatric evaluation found Delport had an IQ of 78 and borderline personality disorder. At trial, prosecutors accepted his diminished mental capacity as a mitigating factor and did not seek capital punishment, instead requesting a lengthy prison sentence with psychological treatment. Dr. Anthony Dunn, chief psychiatrist at Midlands Hospital, testified that Delport was not mentally ill at the time of the shooting but was of partially unsound mind due to low IQ, poor stress coping, and hatred toward his father.

Delport initially pleaded not guilty, claiming he was of unsound mind and had fired at "black shapes" he believed were attacking him, but later changed his plea. On 21 October 1992, he was found guilty, and on 29 October 1992 he was sentenced to 39 years in prison — 22 years for nine counts of murder and 12 years for 21 counts of attempted murder, to run concurrently, meaning eligibility for release after 22 years. He was also permanently barred from obtaining a firearms license.