Two bar shootings, one in a township close to Johannesburg and another in eastern South Africa, left 19 dead, police said on Sunday.

In Soweto, 15 people were killed as they enjoyed a night out, police said, when assailants drew up in a minibus taxi and began randomly firing at bar patrons.

In the eastern city of Pietermaritzburg, police reported four people were killed and eight wounded during a shootout in a bar after two men fired discriminately at customers.

Police sources said it was too early to say if the assaults were in some way connected but observed their similarity.

In Soweto, Johannesburg's largest township to the southwest of South Africa's economic capital, police were called to the scene shortly after midnight.

"When we arrived at the scene, 12 people were dead with gunshot wounds," local police officer Nonhlanhla Kubheka told AFP.

She added 11 people were taken to hospital. Three died shortly after arrival.

There were no details regarding the assailants.

"Nobody has been arrested. Officers are still on site. They came and shot at people who were having fun," said Kubheka, commander of the Orlando police station, the Soweto district where the shooting took place.

Hundreds of people were massed behind police cordons Sunday as police investigated, AFP journalists reported. Only a small poster showing beer prices at the bar could be seen outside the establishment.

Police led away relatives of those caught up in the drama who tried to approach the crime scene.