‘We cannot continue picking up bodies’: South Africa probes ninth woman’s death in two months

Members of the South African Police Service Forensic Pathology Services work at the scene where a woman’s body was discovered in Boksburg on September 17, 2026. — AFP pic

First Published: Thursday, 17 Sep 2026 7:38 PM MYT

JOHANNESBURG, Sept 17 — South African police on Thursday recovered the ninth body of a woman east of Johannesburg in two months, as a string of murders continues to stoke public anxiety.

Police have imposed a lockdown in Kempton Park in the Ekurhuleni municipality and officers mounted roadblocks after three of the partially naked bodies were found this week.

“We cannot continue picking up bodies,” deputy police chief Tebello Mosikili told journalists in Dawn Park, where the latest body was found on the side of the road.

Police have offered a 400,000 rand (RM80,800) reward for any information that could lead to the arrest of the killer or killers, while the Democratic Alliance, the second largest political party in South Africa, offered US$31,000 (RM121,800).

Mosikili said officers will investigate whether Thursday’s discovery was linked to the earlier murders or if they were dealing with a copycat.

Gender-based violence is endemic in South Africa, where one in three women experiences physical or sexual violence during her lifetime, according to the United Nations, despite years of government pledges to tackle it.

One of the victims, 38-year-old Elizabeth Moselakgomo, left her eight-year-old daughter at home to go for a jog and never returned. Her body was found on September 12 behind a hotel.

Her disappearance drew public attention after fellow runners launched a social media campaign to find her, bringing renewed focus to earlier cases and, later, to the discovery of more bodies.

The first victim, a 37-year-old woman, was found naked and bound with cable ties on July 15. A suspect was arrested two days later and appeared in court on Wednesday, police said.

Mosikili said the man was a foreigner but could not say from where.

The second woman, 32, was found partially clothed on August 24, while a third was discovered naked and in an advanced state of decomposition on September 10. — AFP