By JD GLOBAL MEDIA
President Cyril Ramaphosa has ordered a national review of unresolved murders, attempted murders, rapes and serious sexual offences involving women and children, alongside new deadlines for addressing forensic backlogs and dangerous public spaces, following a series of killings in Ekurhuleni.
The measures were announced during a national address on Tuesday night, 29 September 2026, in which Ramaphosa said government needed to take additional action to improve the response to gender-based violence and femicide.
The announcement places several government departments, the South African Police Service, municipalities and other authorities under specific 60- and 90-day deadlines. The Presidency says progress will also have to be reported publicly on a continuing basis.
THE EKURHULENI INVESTIGATION
Ramaphosa said the body of another woman was found in Springs on Sunday, bringing the number of women's bodies found in Ekurhuleni since July to 11 according to his address.
He said a specialised multidisciplinary investigation had been elevated to national level under the coordination of the Deputy National Commissioner for Detective Services. The investigation includes detectives, Crime Intelligence, forensic specialists, investigative psychologists and digital investigators.
The President said arrests had already been made in several of the cases. He identified a suspect arrested in connection with the killing of Ntombifuthi Nxumalo, said two suspects had been arrested and appeared in court over the death of Jabulile Ntimba, and said a suspect was in custody over the murder of Busisiwe Mahlangu.
Police have also collected forensic material, including DNA, blood samples, clothing, cellphones and cellphone records. The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research is assisting with digital forensic work.
An important qualification remains around whether the cases are connected.
Ramaphosa said police had not found evidence establishing that the killings were committed by a single perpetrator, meaning investigators are continuing to examine the individual cases and any possible links rather than publicly attributing all of the deaths to one person.
DIFFERENT NUMBERS HAVE BEEN REPORTED
There has been a discrepancy in the number of women reported killed in the area.
In his televised address, Ramaphosa said 11 women's bodies had been found in Ekurhuleni since July. A Cabinet statement published on the same day said the number had increased to 13. Earlier reporting by SABC News had also described 12 bodies in Ekurhuleni and one in Soweto.
The difference appears to reflect developments and counting periods associated with separate government statements.
The President's address provides the figure he used for the national announcement, while the Cabinet statement gives a later figure in its summary of the situation. Because the cases remain under investigation and identifications are still being made, the numbers should be treated according to the date and source attached to each statement rather than combined into one unsupported total.
FIRST MEASURE: NATIONAL CASE-RECOVERY OPERATION
The first major intervention is a nationwide case-recovery operation targeting unresolved serious offences involving women and children.
Ramaphosa directed the Minister of Police and the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development to work with SAPS and, while respecting prosecutorial independence, the National Prosecuting Authority.
Within 60 days, authorities must identify the number and age of unresolved cases, cases awaiting forensic evidence, cases where suspects have been identified but not arrested and cases where investigative or prosecutorial action has been unreasonably delayed.
The process does not end with an audit.
Within 90 days, authorities are required to produce individual recovery plans for priority cases and stalled cases. Each plan must identify the remaining action, the responsible official and a deadline.
This changes the exercise from simply counting outstanding cases to assigning responsibility and establishing timeframes for progressing them.
The President also directed that progress be monitored and reported.
SECOND MEASURE: FORENSIC BACKLOGS
A second 60-day deadline concerns forensic evidence.
Ramaphosa directed the police leadership and relevant forensic authorities to produce a funded plan to reduce forensic backlogs and establish turnaround standards for priority GBV and femicide cases.
The plan must identify the size and age of the backlog, personnel and equipment shortages, the resources needed and the dates by which the backlog is expected to be reduced.
Priority forensic samples relating to the rape or murder of women and children are to be ring-fenced for urgent processing.
The government also intends to publish progress against the turnaround standards every quarter.
The emphasis on forensic capacity is significant because DNA and other physical evidence can influence whether investigators are able to identify suspects and build cases. Ramaphosa said the Ekurhuleni investigation is already using DNA, blood, clothing and digital evidence.
THIRD MEASURE: MUNICIPAL SAFETY AUDITS
The third intervention moves responsibility beyond the police.
Every municipality is required to begin a women's safety audit, with provincial authorities and police working together to identify locations and conditions that could create risks.
Within 60 days, the audits must identify hazards including broken streetlights, overgrown public spaces, abandoned buildings, unsafe transport routes and facilities and poorly secured parks.
Within 90 days of an audit being completed, the most urgent hazards must either be addressed or placed in a funded implementation plan with clear completion dates.
The government also intends to publish the results so communities can see what hazards have been identified, what has been fixed and what remains outstanding.
The measure places municipal infrastructure and public-space management within the wider national GBV response.
It also creates a mechanism through which residents will potentially be able to track whether identified safety problems are being addressed.
FOURTH MEASURE: LIQUOR-LAW ENFORCEMENT
The fourth measure focuses on alcohol-related violence.
Ramaphosa instructed provincial and municipal authorities to intensify enforcement of existing liquor laws and by-laws, particularly against unlicensed establishments and businesses trading outside permitted hours.
He also instructed the Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, working with the Ministers of Health, Social Development, Police and Cooperative Governance, to submit a coordinated legislative and enforcement package to Cabinet within 60 days aimed at reducing alcohol-related violence.
The President made a specific distinction during his address: alcohol, he said, does not cause gender-based violence and cannot excuse violence, while harmful alcohol use can aggravate interpersonal violence.
That distinction keeps responsibility for an offence with the person who commits it while treating alcohol regulation as one element of the government's prevention strategy.
POLICE HAVE NOT RULED ON A SINGLE LINK
The Ekurhuleni killings have generated public concern over whether the individual cases could be connected.
Authorities, however, have not publicly established that all of the deaths were the work of one offender.
Ramaphosa said investigators had identified people of interest in other cases and were gathering forensic and digital evidence.
The government has therefore presented the investigation as a collection of individual cases being examined together through a specialised national-level operation rather than as a confirmed single-offender investigation.
This distinction is important because investigators can examine similarities between cases without having established that they have the same perpetrator.
MISSING-PERSON REPORTS
Ramaphosa also addressed the reporting of missing people.
He said only two of the women found dead in Ekurhuleni had been reported missing.
The President stressed that there is no requirement to wait 24 hours before reporting a person missing and urged families and members of the public to report concerns immediately when they believe someone may be in danger.
He said early information can be important to investigations, including photographs, vehicle-registration details, phone calls, messages and other observations.
The statement is intended to reinforce a point that authorities have repeatedly made in missing-person cases: police can begin investigations when a person is reported missing and there is no general legal rule requiring families to wait a specific period before approaching the police.
MORE VISIBLE POLICING IN EKURHULENI
The President said visible policing had already been increased in Ekurhuleni and that operations would continue for as long as required.
At the same time, he said policing alone could not address the entire GBV problem and that prevention needed to operate before an offence occurs.
That reasoning is reflected in the four measures.
The first two focus primarily on the criminal justice process after an offence has occurred: recovering stalled cases and speeding up forensic work.
The third deals with physical environments that may create safety risks.
The fourth targets enforcement and legislation around alcohol-related violence.
Together, the measures cover investigation, evidence processing, municipal safety and prevention.
GOVERNMENT ALREADY HAS OTHER GBV PROGRAMMES
Ramaphosa's announcement does not replace existing GBV programmes.
He said government had already allocated resources to strengthen the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Units, was expanding Sexual Offences Courts and continuing services through Thuthuzela Care Centres.
He also referred to expanded shelter services, strengthened forensic processing and Victim Friendly Services and GBV desks at police stations.
The new directives are therefore presented as an additional accountability framework on top of those existing initiatives.
The President said the National Council on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide would have responsibility for coordinating the national response, while the Inter-Ministerial Committee and the council would monitor the newly announced measures.
A first consolidated report is due within 90 days, followed by quarterly public progress reports.
PARLIAMENTARY AND GOVERNMENT SCRUTINY
The latest response follows growing scrutiny from Parliament and other institutions over the deaths in Ekurhuleni.
Before the presidential address, Parliament's oversight structures had called for accelerated action and public cooperation while warning that investigators had not established that all the cases were connected.
Cabinet also said it supported a multidisciplinary investigation team and noted that four suspects had been arrested in connection with three of the murders.
The Cabinet statement said those suspects remained in custody after being denied bail following court appearances.
These developments mean the Ekurhuleni investigation now has several layers of oversight: the criminal investigations themselves, the national GBV response structures, ministerial coordination and political oversight through Parliament.
WHAT THE DEADLINES CHANGE
One of the most concrete features of Ramaphosa's announcement is the use of deadlines.
Officials are not only being asked to improve systems in general. They have been assigned tasks that must be completed within 60 or 90 days.
For unresolved cases, the first deadline is to establish the scale and age of the backlog, followed by individual plans for priority cases.
For forensic work, authorities have to identify the size of the backlog and establish standards and resources for reducing it.
For municipalities, hazards must be identified within 60 days and urgent problems addressed or placed into funded plans within 90 days.
The government has also committed to public reporting, allowing future progress to be measured against the stated deadlines.
This provides specific benchmarks against which the implementation of the response can later be assessed.
WHAT REMAINS UNKNOWN
The new measures do not yet resolve the individual Ekurhuleni cases.
The identities of some victims remain unknown, according to the President.
Investigators also have not established that all of the cases are connected.
In addition, the public has not yet been given a complete account of the number of unresolved GBV cases covered by the national recovery operation or the exact size of the national forensic backlog.
Those figures are among the information authorities are now required to establish through the new review process.
The first 60- and 90-day deadlines will therefore provide information that is not yet publicly available in a consolidated form.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
The immediate focus will remain on the ongoing Ekurhuleni investigations and the implementation of the newly announced directives.
Police will continue gathering evidence and pursuing persons of interest and suspects in individual cases.
Government departments will have to begin the national case audit and forensic-backlog planning, while municipalities are expected to commence safety audits.
The first major public accountability point is expected within 90 days, when the government says a consolidated progress report should be issued.
A further layer of scrutiny will come from the quarterly reporting requirement.
That will allow the public to see whether the stated actions have been completed, delayed or revised.
THE LARGER GBV RESPONSE
The President's address also placed the Ekurhuleni cases within the broader national problem of gender-based violence and femicide.
Ramaphosa cited a South African Medical Research Council study which found that more than 60% of women murdered in 2021 and 2022 were killed by an intimate partner.
The statistic points to the importance of prevention within interpersonal relationships as well as public-space safety.
The response announced on Tuesday consequently extends beyond police operations.
It includes the way children and young people learn about consent and relationships, the handling of protection orders, the processing of forensic evidence, the management of public spaces and the enforcement of existing laws.
The President also called on men and boys to challenge harassment and violence among peers and directed the Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture to strengthen the work of the Moral Regeneration Movement in addressing social attitudes and practices associated with violence against women.
AN IMPLEMENTATION TEST NOW BEGINS
The government's announcement creates a series of measurable tasks, but the announcement itself does not demonstrate that those tasks have already been completed.
The first 60 days will determine whether authorities can produce the required national case audit, identify forensic backlogs and begin municipal safety assessments.
The following 90-day period will test whether stalled cases have individual recovery plans and whether municipalities have addressed urgent hazards or secured funding and deadlines for doing so.
The government's own reporting framework means those milestones should eventually be visible through public progress reports.
For the Ekurhuleni investigation, the central question remains whether investigators can establish what happened in each case and identify those responsible.
For the national response, the practical question is whether the newly announced deadlines produce measurable changes in case management, forensic processing, public-space safety and enforcement.
The President has made clear that the government regards the killings as requiring both an immediate investigative response and a wider national prevention strategy.
For now, the investigations remain active, the criminal responsibility of accused individuals will have to be determined through the courts, and the newly announced government measures have entered their implementation phase.
Comments
Post a Comment