By Palesa Matlala
- Lerato Motho, 26, has been missing since Sunday night, while her worried father says her phone is off and she missed work.
- Seven women have been found dead across Ekurhuleni since July, but police have not confirmed that the deaths are linked.
Every time another woman’s body is found in Ekurhuleni, a parent wonders the unthinkable: Is that my daughter?
That agonizing fear brought desperate families to Kwa-Thema after the body of a sixth woman was discovered near an old cinema, only for terror to deepen shortly after when police retrieved a seventh victim from a river in Clayville, near Tembisa Mall.
Among those searching for answers is 54-year-old Lebane Motho. His daughter, Lerato Motho, 26, has not been home since Sunday night after the two had an argument at a local tavern.
“Out of anger, she didn’t return home that night and on Monday she didn’t report for work,” Motho said.
Lerato was supposed to relieve her mother at work, but she never arrived. Her phone remains off, leaving her family with endless questions and no answers.
Motho was not the only parent drawn to the crime scene by fear. Tshwarelo, 49, said her daughter has been missing for more than a month. Her family’s panic began when her daughter’s workplace called to report her missing shift.
“We got a call from her workplace telling us that she didn’t make it to work. That was when we began worrying,” Tshwarelo said.
Another elderly woman rushed to the cordoned off crime scene.
She wanted to see the body.
She feared the dead woman could be her missing daughter.
For these parents, the discovery was not simply another crime scene.
It could hold the answer they desperately want but are terrified to receive.
The families had not immediately reported their daughters missing because they believed they had to wait 72 hours.
There is no 72 hour waiting period before a missing person can be reported to police.
As terror spreads among local residents, President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed the killings, confirming he has been in direct contact with the police minister and the national police commissioner.
“I have directed that these cases be prioritised and that no stone be left unturned in bringing those responsible to justice,” Ramaphosa stated, acknowledging the profound fear the brutal killings have inflicted on women in the region.
National police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said a team of specialists is now studying the cases.
“We’ve got a multidisciplinary team of experts. We’ve got tracking teams on the ground, we’ve got our criminologists who form part of our investigative psychology unit,” Mathe said.
“We also have psychologists on the ground trying to study the behaviour of each case.”
Police have urged people across Gauteng to be extra vigilant.
For the families standing near the crime scenes, however, the statistics and official updates offer little comfort. They remain caught in a painful state of waiting, desperate for truth, yet terrified of what that truth might be.
Pictured above: Worried families gathered near the Kwa-Thema crime scene after a sixth woman’s body was found in Ekurhuleni.
Image source: Palesa Matlala
