A passerby spotted the body near a construction site early on Thursday and called the police. It was the ninth woman found dead in Ekurhuleni, the municipality east of Johannesburg, in the last two months.
Police said the find “will be added to the investigations into the deaths of women in Ekurhuleni.” They have not yet said the cases are connected. Provincial police commissioner Fred Kekana told reporters the dead woman was unidentified and appeared to be about 30. She had what looked like a stab wound to her side, and her throat appeared to have been cut. Forensic investigators have not settled the official cause of death.
Earlier, police had said that similarities among the first eight killings were “sufficiently concerning for the police to issue a public warning.” The number of bodies has raised the possibility that one person, or a group, is behind them.
Where the bodies were found
The victims have turned up in several Ekurhuleni communities: Kempton Park, Pomona, Clayville, Olifantsfontein, Rhodesfield, KwaThema and Dawn Park. According to AFP, the latest body was found in Dawn Park, and police have put a lockdown in place in Kempton Park. A multidisciplinary team of experts has been assigned to the investigation.
“We cannot continue picking up bodies,” deputy police chief Tebello Mosikili told journalists in Dawn Park.
Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi said officers were following leads and had made progress in two or three of the cases, though he gave no details. He asked the public to allow investigators time to build a sound body of evidence. Speaking at the scene, he was blunt. “They’ve declared war against the state. We’ll respond,” he said. “We’re not going to surrender.”
Appeals to the public
Kekana asked people to stop sharing photographs of the bodies and unverified posts on social media. He warned that they were spreading fear and could invite copycat crimes. He also repeated the call for anyone with information to come forward.
Missing In Southern Africa, a group that supports missing people and their families, said the discoveries had deepened the anguish of families searching for loved ones. “There is no waiting period to report a missing person,” it said. “The moment you suspect that someone is missing, report it immediately to the South African Police Service.”
No suspects have been named in the Ekurhuleni cases.
