Fear and anger in South Africa as bodies of nine women found: What we know

The bodies of nine women have been found in South Africa’s Ekurhuleni municipality over the past two months, prompting police to investigate potential connections between the crimes. The apparent murders, which bear similarities, have shaken the country, long plagued by high rates of crime and femicide and sparked fears that one or more offenders could strike again. President Cyril Ramaphosa, who urged men to play a greater part in preventing violence against women and girls, has ordered the police to leave “no stone unturned” in their pursuit of justice.

The rate at which women are killed in South Africa is five times higher than the global average, according to figures from UN Women. South African police made their latest discovery on Thursday, September 17 , when they found the body of a woman in Dawn Park on the outskirts of Johannesburg in Ekurhuleni municipality. Local police said the unidentified, partially clothed woman, believed to be around 30, had been stabbed and dumped before being discovered.

Police said she may have been killed at another location before her body was moved to the park. She is the ninth known woman to be killed in similar circumstances since July 17 . All the murdered women were found in Ekurhuleni municipality in the greater Johannesburg area.

The first five bodies were found in the Kempton Park area. The others were found in separate locations 25-35km away. Dawn Park, where the latest body was found, is about 30km south of Kempton Park.

Of the nine women whose bodies have been discovered, only four have been identified, according to local media. The battered and burned body of Dineo Motapane, a 38-year-old mother of two, was discovered this week in a residential area of Ekurhuleni. The body of 28-year-old Gracious Nkomo, also partially clothed, was found on September 10, having been dumped on the R21 highway in Kempton Park.

Last week, 38-year-old Elizabeth Moselakgomo was also found dead in Kempton Park. Local media reported that her young daughter alerted the police when she failed to return from a run. Itumeleng Kekana, 32, was a shopkeeper.