Reported by Ariajegbe Sylvia Esezobor
South African police on Saturday recovered the body of a tenth woman in Ekurhuleni, east of Johannesburg, confirming that the killing spree that has gripped the municipality for more than two months has claimed another victim and intensifying fears that a serial predator or group of killers remains at large.
The body was found in the Tembisa township, police said. “At this stage, we can only confirm the discovery of the body. Crime scene management and all the necessary role players are currently on the scene,” police spokeswoman Brigadier Brenda Muridili said. Local television station eNCA reported that the semi-naked body was found at a cemetery. The discovery brings to ten the number of women found dead in the municipality since mid-July, with a total of eleven bodies recovered in Gauteng province in recent weeks.
The nine other victims were mostly in their 20s and 30s, with several found stripped of their clothes and showing signs of sexual assault. The first victim, a 37-year-old woman, was found naked and bound with cable ties on July 15 in Kempton Park. A suspect was arrested two days later. Two other suspects, women aged 31 and 38, were arrested in connection with the ninth victim and charged on Monday. Police have said that case may have stemmed from a relationship-related matter.
The discovery has sparked vigils, protests and solidarity runs across South Africa, with hundreds gathering from Kempton Park to Cape Town to honour the victims and demand stronger action to protect women. The government said its 24-hour Gender-Based Violence Command Centre received 6,782 distress calls between September 1 and 16, an average of 424 calls a day and a 21 per cent increase compared with the same period in August.
The killings have raised profound questions about South Africa’s response to gender-based violence and femicide, a crisis the government declared a national disaster in November 2025. Nearly a year later, the gap between that declaration and the reality women face has become impossible to ignore. The UN in South Africa said the killings “are not isolated tragedies” but “reflect the persistent and deadly violence faced by women and girls in South Africa,” urging that investigations be prompt and thorough to ensure perpetrators are brought to account.
The police response has been extensive but inconclusive. A multidisciplinary team of detectives, intelligence officers, forensic experts and criminal profilers has been assigned to the cases. Authorities have offered a 400,000 rand reward for information leading to arrests and appealed to families with missing relatives to help identify the remaining victims. Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia told the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Gender Based Violence and Femicide that three persons of interest had been called in for questioning, adding that investigations had not conclusively confirmed a serial killer because “all the cases are not necessarily linked and there is some indication of a different modus operandi as well as different motives”.
President Cyril Ramaphosa vowed that “no stone will be left unturned” in finding those behind the killings, which he said were “causing fear and uncertainty in our communities”. Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi struck a more combative tone. “Let’s not get emotional, the gloves are off,” he said, adding that authorities had the capacity to deal with the killings.
For women in Ekurhuleni, the fear is visceral and immediate. “We are scared to come out of our houses. We are scared to go to the shops. We are no longer free in a country where we are supposed to be safe as women,” local resident Bongeka Sebela told the BBC. Police have advised women to avoid walking alone or using isolated routes, remain alert to strangers and suspicious vehicles, share their travel plans with someone they trust, and avoid walking with earphones at high volume. “Practising personal safety measures can save lives,” the police said in a statement, a message that places the burden of prevention on potential victims rather than on the systems meant to protect them.
The broader statistical picture is devastating. A total of 569 women were killed and 1,052 survived attempted murder between April and June 2026, according to figures cited by the African News Agency. South Africa, a nation of 62 million people, has one of the world’s highest murder rates, with more than 60 killings a day on average, and the rate at which women are killed is five times higher than the global average, according to UN Women. Gender-based violence has been described as a second pandemic, and the classification of the crisis as a national disaster was intended to give it the urgency and coordination that previous interventions lacked.
The legal and institutional response has been substantial on paper. The National Strategic Plan on GBVF 2020–2030 provides a framework for prevention, law enforcement, protection and justice, survivor support, communication and institutional arrangements. The National Council on GBVF was established to provide strategic leadership, and the Inter-Ministerial Committee coordinates government action. Yet the killings have continued, and the discovery of a tenth body in two months has exposed the limits of declarations and plans when they are not matched by implementation, resources and accountability.
For the families of the women killed, the discovery of each new body compounds their grief and deepens their anger. For the women of Ekurhuleni, the fear is not abstract but a daily reality that shapes how they move, where they go and whether they feel safe in their own communities. For the South African government, the crisis is a test of whether the national disaster classification and the commitments that accompanied it can translate into meaningful protection for women and girls. As the police investigation continues and the nation waits for answers, the bodies of ten women stand as a damning indictment of a country where being female remains, for far too many, a life-threatening condition.
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