Africa17 September, 20263 min read
South African Police Find Ninth Woman’s Body in Ekurhuleni, Deepening Serial Killer Fears
Ninth woman's body found in Dawn Park, Ekurhuleni, amid serial killings probe Police investigating possible link among deaths due to similarities across cases
Ninth body found
South African police said they found the ninth woman’s body in an area east of Johannesburg in Ekurhuleni municipality, deepening fears that the killings could be linked to a serial killer or group of killers. The latest discovery came on Thursday, September 17, when police said they found the body of a woman in Dawn Park, and local police said she was believed to be around 30 and had been stabbed and dumped before being discovered. Police said all nine bodies were found in Ekurhuleni municipality over the last two months, with the first five bodies found in the Kempton Park area and Dawn Park described as about 30km south of Kempton Park.
Police commissioner of the Gauteng province Fred Kekana cautioned against hastily coming to conclusions, saying investigators were considering all possibilities, including “the possibility of multiple suspects or separate perpetrators.” CNN also tied the ninth death to fears of a serial killer, noting that nine women have been killed in Johannesburg in the last two months, most in their 20s and 30s.
Police, experts, and residents
Police said the ninth body would be added to investigations into deaths of women in Ekurhuleni, and they appealed for information while warning people not to circulate photographs of the bodies or unverified reports on social media. Deputy police commissioner Tebello Mosikili said a passerby found the woman’s body near a construction site and alerted police, and Mosikili also said it was “still very early to make any conclusions about this body.” In Dawn Park, resident Nomgqibelo Tshabalala said, “I hope the government can assist us by arresting the person or people who have been committing these killings, because the current situation is becoming unbearable.”
A security expert, Jan Joubert Jooste, said his geographical analysis does not establish that the deaths are connected or that they were committed by a single person, writing that “SAPS has not confirmed that all nine deaths were committed by one offender.” Jooste’s report described R21 as a recurring feature, saying the earliest concentration of discoveries was around Kempton Park and the R21 before the geographical footprint expanded into other parts of Ekurhuleni.
What comes next
South African authorities have urged the public to report information and offered a reward of 400,000 rand ($25,000) for information leading to an arrest, while police also advised women in the area to be on heightened alert and to avoid walking or running alone near Kempton Park. President Cyril Ramaphosa ordered the police to leave “no stone unturned” in their pursuit of justice, and the AP reported that the discoveries have sent shock waves around the country and sparked a high-level investigation. Amnesty International South Africa called on the State to recognise femicide as a distinct crime, warning that failure to do so leaves the targeted killing of women largely unaddressed, and Amnesty executive director Shenilla Mohamed said, “You cannot fix what you are not tracking.”
Amnesty International also said 5 578 women were murdered between 2023 and 2024, an average of roughly 15 women killed every day, and it noted that the South African Police Service (SAPS) has not published disaggregated crime data regarding the murder and assault of women and children since August 2025. The political and community response has included marches to Kempton Park Police Station demanding stronger measures to protect women and children and hold perpetrators accountable, and a coalition representing more than 1,000 faith leaders and activists said, “That silence must end.”