Posted on September 17, 2026September 17, 2026Police have found the body of another murdered woman on the outskirts of South Africa’s commercial capital, following the discovery of eight women’s bodies in the same area of Johannesburg in the past two months. Police said they found the body of a ninth woman and imposed a lockdown at Kempton Park in the Ekurhuleni township on Thursday. Three of the partially naked bodies were found in the area this week. The series of murders has stoked public anxiety that these crimes may have been carried out by a serial killer. Police had previously said some similarities in the murders of the first eight victims were “concerning enough” to issue a public warning. “Investigators are considering all possibilities, including the possibility that there are multiple separate suspects or perpetrators,” said Fred Kekana, police commissioner of South Africa’s Gauteng province. The first five bodies were discovered in or near Kempton Park; the others were found in separate locations 25-35 kilometers (16-22 miles) apart. “Police are comparing evidence, timelines, locations, victim profiles and circumstances of each case,” Kekana said, adding that while it is too early to connect the murders to a serial killer, “the similarities in the cases were concerning.” All were women between 20 and 30 years old, and all were found naked or partially clothed, police said. Some of the bodies had similar bruises. The first body was discovered on July 17, naked and tied with zip ties. A suspect believed to be the victim’s boyfriend was arrested and taken into custody, according to police, although no charges were filed against him. One of the other victims was identified as Elizabeth Tsontso Moselakgomo, 38, who disappeared while jogging. She was reported missing after her eight-year-old daughter alerted relatives that she had not returned from her daily afternoon jog, and was found dead several days later. Another body was found naked and in an advanced state of decomposition, authorities said. The youngest victim has been identified as a 20-year-old woman. Members of the South African Police Service inspect the body of the ninth woman murdered in recent weeks as investigators attempt to arrest the killer. [Kim Ludbrook/EPA]’We cannot continue collecting bodies’ South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has promised that “no stone will be left unturned” in the investigation into the deaths, and authorities are now offering a reward of 400,000 South African rand ($25,000) for information leading to the arrest of the perpetrator or perpetrators. Women in the vicinity of where the bodies were discovered have also been advised to be “extremely cautious” and not go out. “We cannot continue collecting bodies,” Tebello Mosikili, deputy national commissioner of policing for the South African Police Service, told reporters at the scene of the latest discovery. The killings have highlighted the high rates of violence against women in South Africa, which has one of the highest femicide rates in the world, according to the United Nations. South African police recorded 9,782 reported rapes between January and March 2026, along with 12,590 sexual crimes. That equates to approximately 108 rapes reported each day. Nearly half of those reported rapes, 4,620, or 47.2 percent, took place in the home of the victim or perpetrator, according to police statistics. In November last year, South Africa’s National Disaster Management Center classified gender-based violence and feminicide as a national disaster following sustained pressure from civil society organizations. A 2022 study by a South African think tank found that more than 35 percent of African adult women had experienced physical or sexual violence at some point.
