Tenth woman found dead in Ekurhuleni as police probe possible link
South African police found a woman's body near a cemetery in Tembisa township on Saturday, the tenth woman found dead in Ekurhuleni municipality in about two months, as investigators work to establish whether the killings are connected.
South African police on Saturday found the body of a woman near a cemetery in Tembisa township, east of Johannesburg, bringing to 10 the number of women found dead in Ekurhuleni municipality over the past two months.
Police are working to establish whether the killings are connected. The semi-naked body was found near a cemetery, police said; eNCA reported it was found at the cemetery itself.
“At this stage, we can only confirm the discovery of the body. Crime scene management and all the necessary role players are currently on the scene,” police spokeswoman Brigadier Brenda Muridili said.
Provincial police chief Tommy Mthombeni said the victim appeared to have been stoned to death, with a post-mortem to determine the cause of death. “We have put highly capable investigators on this case,” he told reporters at the scene.
The nine other victims were mostly in their 20s and 30s; some were found stripped and showed signs of sexual assault. The first victim, a 37-year-old woman, was found naked and bound with cable ties on July 15; a suspect was arrested two days later. Two other suspects, women aged 31 and 38, were arrested in connection with the ninth victim and charged on Monday; police said that killing may have stemmed from a relationship-related matter.
Police have offered a 400,000-rand ($25,000) reward for information leading to the arrest of the killer or killers, while the Democratic Alliance, South Africa’s second-largest political party, has put up a further $31,000.
Gender-based violence is endemic in South Africa, despite years of government pledges and the declaration of gender-based violence as a national disaster. The national GBV Command Centre received 6,782 distress calls between September 1 and 16, an average of 424 a day, a 21 percent increase on the same period in August.
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