By Palesa Matlala
- Eight women’s bodies have been found across Ekurhuleni since July, with only two identified so far, police confirmed on Tuesday.
- Police are offering R400,000 for information and plan to lock down the area through an expanded Operation Shanela.
Eight women are dead. Only two have names known to police.
The discovery of women’s bodies across Ekurhuleni over two months has left police searching for answers, as authorities offer a R400,000 reward for information and plan to increase policing in the area.
The women have been found in Kempton Park, Olifantsfontein, Clayville and KwaThema. Most were found bruised and partly naked. Police say there is still no evidence proving the deaths are the work of one person or group.
The first victim, a 37 year old woman, was found in Kempton Park on 15 July. A suspect was arrested two days later. Two more women’s bodies were found in Kempton Park in August, and on 10 September another woman was found naked and badly decomposed in Kempton Park.
On 12 September, 38 year old Elizabeth Moselakgomo left her eight year old daughter at home and went for a jog. She never came home. Police later found her body behind a hotel.
A seventh victim was added to the investigation this week, after police realised a body recovered from a river in Clayville, near Tembisa Mall, on 7 September, fit the same pattern. Acting Gauteng Provincial Commissioner Major General Fred Kekana said the woman, believed to be in her late 20s, was found naked but still wearing her underwear, with no visible wounds.
“It’s no more six bodies, this one will include it as the seventh body, so that we don’t leave anything,” he said.
An eighth body was confirmed days later, bringing the total to eight since July. Acting National Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Puleng Dimpane said only two of the eight women have been identified.
Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia said it remains too early to say the deaths are linked. “At this stage, it’s premature to speculate on patterns. These appear to be quite distinct, separate events. But at this point, it would be unhelpful to speculate,” he said. He also urged residents not to spread unverified claims online.
Police have put together a team of experienced investigators to look for possible links between the cases, and will increase visibility in Kempton Park and surrounding areas through an expanded Operation Shanela. Cachalia said police plan to lock down the area in the coming weeks, and Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi has committed to mobilising community structures, church leaders and civic organisations to support the effort.
Police are offering R400,000 for information that could lead to arrests.
Dimpane made an urgent appeal to families of missing loved ones. There is no waiting period before reporting someone missing, and police must take a report immediately rather than turning families away. Families should provide police with a recent photograph, a description of what the missing person was wearing, and details of places they regularly visited.
“The sooner we identify these victims, the quicker it will assist us to follow specific leads and to crack these particular cases,” Dimpane said.
For now, police have eight dead women, six who remain unidentified, and a series of killings they are still trying to understand.
Pictured above: Police brief the media on the investigation into the deaths of eight women in Ekurhuleni.
Image source: Supplied
