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Police in South Africa have confirmed the discovery of three additional female bodies in an area east of Johannesburg, bringing the total number of women found dead in the region to 12 in just over two months. The latest remains were recovered in Ekurhuleni between Saturday and Monday morning, according to local authorities, deepening fears that a serial offender may be operating in the area.
The string of discoveries has triggered widespread alarm across Ekurhuleni, with particular anxiety centred on Kempton Park and surrounding neighbourhoods. The killings have also reignited long-standing concerns about the extraordinarily high levels of violence against women in South Africa, a country where femicide rates consistently rank among the highest in the world.
While police have made arrests in three of the 12 cases, investigators say those cases do not appear connected to one another. Nevertheless, law enforcement officials have acknowledged they cannot rule out the possibility that a serial killer is responsible for some of the deaths. The admission has done little to calm public anxiety in a region now grappling with the grim task of accounting for each victim.
The first body was discovered on 15 July 2026, when 37-year-old Busisiwe Mahlangu was found in Kempton Park. She was naked, with her hands bound using cable ties. Police arrested a suspect believed to be her partner two days later. He has remained in custody since that time and has not been linked to any of the subsequent deaths.
The second victim, 32-year-old Itumeleng Kekana, was found on 3 August in the same area. The young mother had disappeared in July, and her body was discovered badly bruised, partially clothed, and dumped on a bridge in Kempton Park. No arrests have been made in connection with her death.
On 26 August, the body of Nomfesane Mjobo was recovered, also in Kempton Park. Authorities have released few details about the circumstances of her death, but like most of the victims, she was found partially or fully naked and bearing bruises. Her case also remains unsolved, with no arrests reported.
Police confirmed the discovery of an unidentified woman in her twenties on 7 September. Her body was found floating in a river in Olifantsfontein, wearing only her underwear. No further information has been disclosed about the cause of her death, and no arrests have been made.
The fifth victim, 28-year-old Gracious Nkomo, was found on 10 September along a road close to South Africa's busiest airport, OR Tambo International. Her partially clothed body was discovered in the Kempton Park area. No arrests have been made in her case.
Elizabeth "Tsontso" Moselakgomo, a 38-year-old avid runner, became the sixth woman found dead after a highly publicised nationwide search. She had gone missing while out for a daily run near her home in Kempton Park. Her body was found badly bruised and partially clothed on 12 September. It was the discovery of her body that significantly heightened public alarm about the spate of killings — women in Johannesburg subsequently held a memorial run in her honour. No arrests have been made.
Just two days later, on 14 September, police confirmed the discovery of another body in Olifantsfontein. The woman's name has been withheld because her family had not yet been informed. No arrests have been made in that case, which remains the seventh in the series.
The eighth victim, 38-year-old Dineo Motapane, was found on 15 September, only two days after she was last seen alive. Her battered and partly burned body was discovered on the side of the road in Springs, another part of Ekurhuleni. She leaves behind a young child. No arrests have been made.
On 17 September, the body of Jabulile Ntimba, a woman in her thirties, was discovered half-naked and wrapped in a sheet on the side of a road in Boksburg. Police believe she may have been killed in connection with a possible love triangle. Three people — two women and a man — were initially arrested, but the man was released due to insufficient evidence. The two women have been charged with premeditated murder and defeating the ends of justice.
The tenth body, that of Ntombifuthi Nxumalo, was found at a cemetery in the Tembisa neighbourhood on 26 September. She was discovered naked with serious head injuries and stones lying near her body, leading police to suspect she may have been stoned to death. A 36-year-old man was arrested a day later after travelling to another province. He faces a murder charge.
The eleventh victim, a woman who has not yet been identified, was found in Springs on Sunday. The twelfth set of remains was among the three bodies confirmed by police on Monday, following discoveries between Saturday and Monday morning. Details about the final victims remain limited as investigations continue.
The scale of the tragedy has prompted debate about the effectiveness of policing and gender-based violence prevention in South Africa. Advocacy groups have long argued that crimes against women are frequently poorly investigated, with many cases never reaching trial. The fact that arrests have been made in only three of the 12 cases has intensified criticism from activists who say authorities have repeatedly failed to protect women.
The killings also underscore the broader crisis of violence against women in the country. South Africa has some of the highest rates of femicide globally, and the government has previously declared gender-based violence a national crisis. Yet the steady accumulation of bodies in Ekurhuleni over a matter of weeks suggests the problem remains far from resolved.
As investigators work to determine whether any of the deaths are linked, communities in Kempton Park and the wider Ekurhuleni region remain on edge. Residents have called for increased police visibility and faster progress in the cases. For the families of the 12 women, the wait for answers — and for justice — continues.
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