Ekurhuleni killings: Home Affairs joins probe as police find possible links

Police have identified possible links between some of the nine women’s deaths across Ekurhuleni as Home Affairs joins the widening murder investigation.

Acting Gauteng Police Commissioner Major General Fred Kekana said detectives still need forensic and investigative evidence before they can confirm those connections.

The development comes after police found a ninth woman dead in Dawn Park, Boksburg, on Thursday morning, adding another case to an investigation that stretches back to July.

HOME AFFAIRS JOINS EKURHULENI KILLINGS PROBE

SAPS has brought Home Affairs into the investigation to help identify women whose names remain unknown.

Investigators will use fingerprint and biometric records as they try to establish the victims’ identities and trace possible leads.

Kekana said senior Home Affairs officials, including immigration officials at national and provincial level, had joined the operation.

Identifying the women could help detectives retrace their movements before their deaths, establish who last saw them alive and determine whether any of the victims shared connections.

Police could also use biometric information to identify other people who emerge during the investigation.

POLICE SEE POSSIBLE LINKS BETWEEN CASES

Police had previously cautioned against connecting the deaths without evidence.

Kekana has now confirmed that detectives have found possible links between some of the cases but said further forensic and investigative work must still establish whether those connections hold.

SAPS has not disclosed which cases investigators believe may be linked.

Police are also pursuing a person of interest, while a man arrested in connection with the first murder in July remains in custody. Investigators have not publicly connected either man to the wider group of deaths.

NINTH WOMAN FOUND IN DAWN PARK

Police added another case on Thursday after a passer-by spotted a woman’s body near Lama Street in Dawn Park.

The discovery brought the number of women’s bodies found across Ekurhuleni over the past two months to nine.

SAPS said a multidisciplinary team of investigators and specialists had already started working on the cases.

So far, the publicly confirmed identities include Elizabeth “Tsontso” Moselakgomo, Itumeleng Kekana and Dineo Evelyn Motapane.

Motapane’s family identified the 38-year-old at the Springs Mortuary on Wednesday after police found her body on the side of a road in KwaThema.

GOVERNMENT JOINS FAMILIES AT KEMPTON PARK MEMORIAL

Government leaders joined grieving families and communities at the Kempton Park Civic Centre on Thursday as the country grappled with the deaths.

Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia delivered a message from President Cyril Ramaphosa at a memorial dialogue against gender-based violence and femicide.

GOVERNMENT LEADS EKURHULENI MEMORIAL AS NATION MOURNS 09 WOMEN LOST TO GBVF

Government has joined families and communities in Ekurhuleni to honour the nine women whose lives were tragically cut short amid the scourge of Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF).

Speaking at… pic.twitter.com/SjCZ85DBxt

— South African Government (@GovernmentZA) September 17, 2026

Ramaphosa said the country stood with the families and communities mourning the women. He also noted that authorities had not yet identified all of the victims.

Minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities Sindisiwe Chikunga also addressed mourners.

She attended the memorial service for Moselakgomo and called for stronger action against gender-based violence and femicide.

The gathering took place hours after police confirmed the ninth body in Dawn Park.

POLICE HAVE NOT CONFIRMED A SERIAL KILLER

Despite the possible links, SAPS has not established that one offender killed all nine women.

Detectives are comparing evidence from the different crime scenes while forensic specialists work to establish which cases, if any, share a common link.

Police have urged families with missing relatives to come forward and have appealed to anyone with information to contact Crime Stop on 08600 10111 or use the MySAPS app.

The investigation now brings together SAPS detectives, forensic specialists, crime intelligence officials and Home Affairs as authorities work to identify the remaining women and establish who killed them.