Police have found the body of another murdered woman on the outskirts of South Africa’s commercial capital – after the discovery of eight female corpses in the same area of Johannesburg in the past two months. Police said they found the body of a ninth woman and imposed a lockdown in Kempton Park in the Ekurhuleni municipality on Thursday. Three of the partially naked bodies were found in the area this week.
The string of murders has stoked public anxiety that these crimes may have been carried out by a serial killer. Police earlier said that some similarities in the killings of the first eight victims were “sufficiently concerning” for the police to issue a public warning. The first five bodies were discovered in or near Kempton Park; the others were found in separate locations 25-35km (16-22 miles) away.
All were women in their 20s or 30s, and all were found either naked or partially clothed, police said. Some of the bodies had similar bruising. The first body was discovered on July 17, naked and restrained with cable ties.
A suspect believed to have been the victim’s boyfriend was arrested and taken into custody, according to police, though no charges were filed against him. One of the other victims was identified as 38-year-old Elizabeth Tsontso Moselakgomo, who went missing while out jogging. She was reported missing after her eight-year-old daughter alerted family members that she had not returned from her daily afternoon jog, and she was found dead several days later.
Another body was found naked and in an advanced stage of decomposition, authorities said. The youngest victim has been identified as a 20-year-old woman. South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa has vowed “no stone will be left unturned” in the investigation into the deaths, and authorities are now offering a reward of 400,000 South African rand ($25,000) for information leading to the apprehension of the perpetrator or perpetrators.
Women in the vicinity of where the bodies were discovered have also been advised to be “extremely cautious” and not to go out alone. The killings have highlighted the high rates of violence against women in South Africa, which has one of the highest femicide rates in the world, according to the United Nations. South African police recorded 9,782 reported rapes between January and March 2026, along with 12,590 sexual offences.
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