Ekurhuleni reports 12 women's deaths as police investigate possible links

Twelve women's deaths in Ekurhuleni, east of Johannesburg, have drawn renewed attention to violence against women in South Africa. Eleven bodies were discovered in the area between July 15 and September 27, according to SABC News and The National. The BBC's twelve-case account also includes Boitumelo Gift Mashita, who was shot dead in Tembisa on September 28. Police say they have found no link between her killing and the earlier deaths.

The distinction matters to the investigation. The eleven-case tally describes bodies found over more than two months, while the latest death was a reported shooting during a robbery. Police have not established that the earlier Ekurhuleni cases were committed by one person or share a motive. An additional woman's body found in Soweto on September 20 is outside the Ekurhuleni tally; investigators had not established a link to the other deaths.

What police know about the latest cases

The eleventh body was found on September 27 near a railway line in Struisbult, Springs, after a security patrol spotted it and alerted police, The National reported. Gauteng police commissioner Tommy Mthombeni told SABC News that preliminary findings indicated the woman, thought to be in her early 20s, had recently been murdered. Her identity had not been established in The National's September 28 account.

The day before the Springs discovery, Ntombifuthi Nxumalo's body was found at a cemetery in Tembisa. The National reported that police arrested a suspect after tracing him to Limpopo. Mthombeni told SABC that blood-stained items and clothing from the scene had been sent for forensic analysis. At the time of that report, police were awaiting results that could help determine whether the recovered evidence was linked to the suspect.

The earlier discoveries and arrests

The National's dated account begins with Busisiwe Mahlangu, whose body was found in Kempton Park on July 15, and Itumeleng Kekana, found on August 3. Nomfesane Mjobo was found on August 26. The pace of discoveries then rose: eight further bodies were found between September 7 and September 27, including those of Gracious Nkomo, Elizabeth 'Tsontso' Moselakgomo, Dineo Motapane and Jabulile Ntimba.

The National also named Vutomi Mathebula among the September discoveries and reported that two women in its eleven-case list remained unidentified. Its account puts the Springs discovery last in that sequence. Some victims were found in Kempton Park and others elsewhere in Ekurhuleni, including Boksburg, Tembisa and Springs. Their inclusion in one regional tally does not itself establish that the killings are connected.

Police had suspects or accused people in three of the eleven cases counted through September 27, according to The National. In Ntimba's case, Fortunate Masilela and Tsakane Nester Msithini were charged with premeditated murder and defeating or obstructing the course of justice. They appeared in Boksburg Magistrates' Court on September 21 and remained in custody; the next hearing was scheduled for October 1. A man arrested with them was released without charge because police said there was insufficient evidence.

A suspect arrested two days after Mahlangu's body was found remained in custody, with a return to Kempton Park Magistrates' Court scheduled for October 28, The National reported. An arrest had also been made in Nxumalo's case. Those separate proceedings do not establish a common suspect across the deaths. Investigators were still examining possible links while handling each case according to the evidence available.

Public response and unanswered questions

The discoveries have intensified concern about violence against women. President Cyril Ramaphosa said at Heritage Day events on September 24 that the abuse, rape and killing of women was 'not our heritage' and described women's suffering as a 'national shame', according to The National. He said he would address the nation about gender-based violence and the government's response, but the cited account did not establish a date for that address.

The National reported that Parliament's Standing Committee on Appropriations planned to examine funding for the response and engage the ministers responsible for social development and policing. Earlier, the government news service SAnews reported that police had deployed additional officers for patrols and investigations. Police have also offered a 400,000-rand reward for information that could help solve the Ekurhuleni cases, according to The National.

The central question remains whether any of the deaths are connected. Police had not established a link between the Springs case and the others, The National reported, while the September 28 Tembisa shooting was being treated separately. Forensic work in the Nxumalo case was still pending in the cited reporting. Those limits leave investigators with individual cases to pursue even as the rising regional toll prompts a broader public response.