Ninth woman found dead in South Africa killing spree

Graphic content / South African Police Service (SAPS) officers and forensic pathology services work on the crime scene where the body of a woman was discovered in Boksburg on September 17, 2026. Photo by EMMANUEL CROSET / AFP

South African police on Thursday recovered the ninth body of a woman east of Johannesburg in two months, as a string of murders continues to stoke public anxiety.

Police have imposed a lockdown in Kempton Park in the Ekurhuleni municipality, and officers mounted roadblocks after three of the partially naked bodies were found this week.

“We cannot continue picking up bodies,” deputy police chief Tebello Mosikili told journalists in Dawn Park, where the latest body was found on the side of the road.

Police have offered a 400,000 rand ($25,000) reward for any information that could lead to the arrest of the killer or killers, while the Democratic Alliance, the second-largest political party in South Africa, offered $31,000.

Mosikili said offices will investigate whether the Thursday discovery was linked to the earlier murders or if they were dealing with a copycat.

Gender-based violence is endemic in South Africa, where one in three women experiences physical or sexual violence during her lifetime, according to the United Nations, despite years of government pledges to tackle it.

• Nigerian consulate issues safety advisory after eight women die in SA
• Police arrest 60 suspects over officer assault at Cross River market
• Police arrest man for defilement of six-year-old stepdaughter in Edo

One of the victims, 38-year-old Elizabeth Moselakgomo, left her eight-year-old daughter at home to go for a jog and never returned. Her body was found on September 12 behind a hotel.

Her disappearance drew public attention after fellow runners launched a social media campaign to find her, bringing renewed focus to earlier cases and, later, to the discovery of more bodies.

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 and appeared in court on Wednesday, police said.

Mosikili said the man was a foreigner but could not say from where.

The second woman, 32, was found partially clothed on August 24, while a third was discovered naked and in an advanced state of decomposition on September 10.