CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — A man charged with killing 18 people in mass shootings in two separate homes on the same night in South Africa abandoned his bail application Tuesday and remains in custody.

Siphosoxolo Myekethe is charged with 18 counts of murder and illegal possession of a firearm. He is accused of killing the victims with an AK-47-style rifle. Prosecutors say Myekethe was out of prison on parole at the time of the shootings after having been convicted of murder in another case.

The mass shootings happened last month in a village in the rural outskirts of the town of Lusikisiki in Eastern Cape province. The victims were shot in two homes belonging to sisters in the same neighborhood. The victims were 15 women, two men and a teenage boy. Many were from the same family.

Four people were killed in the first home and 13 in the second home, according to police. The 18th victim died in a hospital. A 2-month-old baby survived the shootings.

Prosecutors have not given a motive for the killings.

South Africa has one of the highest homicide rates in the world. The country of 62 million recorded more than 12,000 homicides in the first six months of this year, an average of around 70 a day, according to police statistics. Firearms were by far the biggest cause of death in the homicides.

While firearm laws are reasonably strict in South Africa and involve competency checks, background checks and other regulations, authorities say the large number of illegal, unregistered guns in circulation is a major problem. Multiple killings make up a small percentage of homicide cases but have increased in recent years, according to South Africa's Institute for Security Studies.

___

AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa