‘This is a war’: South Africa battles femicide as women’s bodies pile up
Bodies of nine women have been found in a Johannesburg neighbourhood in two months, as worries grow over women's safety.
A ninth woman has been found dead in South Africa’s Ekurhuleni municipality in about two months, intensifying concerns over violence against women and prompting renewed scrutiny of the government’s response to the country’s femicide crisis.
The latest victim was found on Thursday morning in Dawn Park, a residential area of Boksburg, east of Johannesburg. The woman is believed to be in her thirties and was found half-naked and wrapped in a sheet. Police are investigating the deaths but have not established that all nine cases are connected.
“We are still investigating whether we are dealing with one perpetrator or a group of men that are behind the murders of these women,” South African Police Service spokesperson Athlenda Mathe told the Reuters news agency on September 15.
Among the women discovered dead was Elizabeth Moselakgomo, a 38-year-old mother and runner who disappeared after leaving home in the Ekurhuleni municipality, east of Johannesburg, for her usual run about 5:30 pm on September 9.