South Africa was shocked by the shooting rampage at the United States' Virginia Tech University, Foreign Affairs Deputy Minister Aziz Pahad said on Tuesday.

"This is a shocking event that highlights serious malfunction in many societies," he said during a weekly briefing at the Union Buildings in Pretoria.

"We hope the necessary lessons will be learned in such tragedies that are now becoming a common occurrence in the western world," he added.

On Monday, at least 30 people were shot dead in the deadliest shooting rampage in U.S. history, before the gunman turned the gun on himself.

Source: Xinhua