South Africans have organized memorial runs, vigils and protests after police expanded their investigation into women’s deaths around Ekurhuleni to nine cases.
The latest body was discovered near a construction site in Dawn Park, east of Johannesburg, on Thursday, September 17.
Police said the unidentified woman appeared to be approximately 30 years old. Gauteng Provincial Police Commissioner Major-General Fred Kekana said she had apparent wounds to her side and neck, but forensic investigators had not completed the official determination of how she died.
The case has been added to the coordinated investigation into women’s deaths around Ekurhuleni.
That represents a material change from the seven cases reported earlier in the week.
All nine bodies were found during a period of approximately two months in communities including Kempton Park, Pomona, Rhodesfield, Clayville, Olifantsfontein, Kwa-Thema and Dawn Park.
Most of the women were in their 20s and 30s. Some were found partially or completely stripped of clothing and showed indications of sexual violence, according to police accounts and reporting by Reuters and the Associated Press.
Those similarities are sufficiently serious to justify a high-level investigation, but they do not yet prove that every death is connected.
Police have not confirmed that a serial offender is responsible.
Kekana said investigators had not established whether the woman found in Dawn Park was killed at the construction site or whether her body was transported there. He appealed for information and urged people not to circulate graphic photographs or unverified claims on social media.
One suspect remains in custody in connection with the first case recorded in July. Authorities have not linked that person to all nine deaths.
A multidisciplinary investigation involving detectives, intelligence officers, forensic specialists, investigative psychologists and specialised murder units is examining whether the cases share evidence, geography, methods or perpetrators.
Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi said police were making progress in two or three cases but did not disclose details. That statement should not be interpreted as confirmation that arrests or charges are imminent.
One of the identified victims is 38-year-old Elizabeth “Tsontso” Moselakgomo.
Moselakgomo disappeared after leaving her home for a run in Kempton Park. Her body was found several days later.
Running clubs organised memorial events in her honour. At a Saturday morning run in Johannesburg, participants dressed in black, lit candles and carried a banner declaring: “Enough. Stop Femicide.”
The events have become an expression of anger extending beyond the individual cases.
A separate vigil at the University of Cape Town on Friday brought students together to remember victims of gender-based violence and demand stronger action. The accompanying photograph shows a student holding a handwritten appeal during that vigil.
The Uyinene Mrwetyana Foundation said women should be able to live, walk, run and exist without fear.
Women for Change, which held a memorial event in Cape Town, criticised official advice urging women to exercise in groups and avoid isolated areas.
Such precautions may help people respond to an immediate threat, but campaigners argue that the guidance can transfer responsibility from perpetrators and public institutions to potential victims.
Women for Change said women should not have to organise every aspect of their lives around avoiding violence.
The organisation called for improvements in policing, prevention and accountability rather than relying predominantly on warnings directed at women.
The Commission for Gender Equality has separately requested an urgent safety audit in the affected communities.
Its proposed assessment would examine street lighting, abandoned spaces, surveillance, public-transport routes, police visibility and access to emergency assistance.
Those measures recognise that reducing violence requires environmental and institutional reforms alongside criminal investigations.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has directed police leadership to prioritise the Ekurhuleni cases and said South Africa must not become accustomed to violence against women.
He promised that investigators would pursue every reasonable avenue to find those responsible.
The investigation nevertheless takes place within a policing system facing significant capacity and public-confidence problems.
Government data cited in earlier Reuters reporting showed 27,494 murders but 2,982 convictions during the 2022–23 period. Analysts described that outcome as approximately one conviction for every ten murders, although convictions in a reporting year do not necessarily correspond directly to crimes recorded during that same year.
The comparison illustrates the scale of the accountability challenge but does not predict the result of the Ekurhuleni investigation.
Police have deployed additional personnel and increased patrols around affected areas.
The response must balance reassurance with accuracy. Claims that one serial killer has been conclusively identified go beyond the evidence presently available.
Several important facts remain unresolved.
Authorities have not published completed post-mortem findings for every victim. Some women remain unidentified, and police have not disclosed a common motive, forensic signature or confirmed relationship among all nine cases.
Investigators must also determine whether each woman died where she was found and whether the geographical concentration reflects one offender, multiple unrelated crimes or copycat activity.
The verified development is that nine cases are now being examined within the same coordinated investigation and that their similarities have generated a nationwide public response.
The vigils and memorial runs show that the story has expanded beyond a local criminal inquiry.
It has become a renewed test of South Africa’s ability to translate repeated declarations against gender-based violence into safer public spaces, effective investigations, successful prosecutions and support for victims’ families.
