By JD GLOBAL MEDIA
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will address the nation at 7pm on Tuesday evening to outline the government's response to the gender-based violence and femicide crisis and provide an update on the investigations into the murders of women in and around Ekurhuleni, where the total number of female victims discovered since July has now risen to twelve.
The address, confirmed by the Presidency in a statement issued on Tuesday morning, comes after weeks of national outrage triggered by the discovery of multiple women's bodies in the Ekurhuleni metropolitan municipality, east of Johannesburg, in circumstances that police have described as sharing similar characteristics.
The Growing Toll in Ekurhuleni
The killings first came to public attention in July 2026, when the body of 37-year-old Busisiwe Mahlangu was found in Kempton Park, naked with her hands bound with cable ties. A suspect, believed to be her partner, was arrested two days later, but police have not linked him to any of the subsequent deaths.
Between early August and mid-September, the pace of discoveries accelerated dramatically. Itumeleng Kekana, 32, was found dead on 3 August in the same area. Nomfesane Mjobo was discovered on 26 August. Then, in a ten-day period beginning on 7 September, six more bodies were found across Ekurhuleni, several of them partially clothed or naked, dumped in open spaces near main roads.
Among the identified victims are Gracious Nkomo, 28, found on 10 September near Africa's busiest airport; Elizabeth Moselakgomo, 38, a mother who disappeared while on a daily run near her Kempton Park home and whose body was found badly bruised on 12 September; Dineo Motapane, 38, whose battered and partly burned body was discovered in Springs on 15 September; and Jabulile Ntimba, found half-naked and wrapped in a sheet in Boksburg on 17 September.
A tenth body was discovered at a cemetery in Tembisa on Saturday, 26 September. The following day, a private security patrol found an eleventh victim in Springs. On Monday, police confirmed a twelfth body had been found, though few details have been released about the most recent discoveries.
Arrests and Investigation Status
Police have made arrests in connection with three of the cases, but authorities have emphasized that these do not appear to be related to the majority of the killings.
In the case of Jabulile Ntimba, the ninth victim, two women were arrested and charged with premeditated murder and defeating the ends of justice. A man initially arrested in connection with the same killing was released due to insufficient evidence. Major General Tommy Mthombeni, Gauteng's provincial police commissioner, told the state broadcaster that investigators believe the Ntimba murder was an isolated incident, possibly stemming from a love triangle.
The two women appeared in court last week and are due to appear again on 1 October.
Authorities have repeatedly stated that while they have identified similarities among some of the murders, there is currently insufficient evidence to confirm that a single serial killer or group is responsible for all the deaths. Forensic psychology units specializing in complex violent and serial crimes have been deployed as part of the investigation.
One of the identified victims remains unidentified, with no missing person report filed. Police have appealed to residents in Kempton Park, Kwa-Thema, and Tembisa to check on female relatives and report anyone missing immediately, reminding the public that there is no 24-hour waiting period to file a missing person report.
Government's Emergency Response
The killings prompted the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide to convene on 17 September and approve a Comprehensive Emergency Strategy designed to expedite the investigation and bring perpetrators to justice.
The strategy encompasses three main pillars aligned with the National Strategic Plan on GBVF: prevention and rebuilding social cohesion; law enforcement, protection, safety, and justice; and victim-centered support.
Under the strategy, the multidisciplinary specialized investigation team has been elevated to be coordinated by the Deputy National Commissioner for Detective Services, reflecting what the committee described as the "highest level of attention" from government and law enforcement.
Additional measures include increased police visibility under Operation Shanela, enhanced by-law enforcement targeting illegal liquor and drug sales, and environmental design interventions. The City of Ekurhuleni is intensifying grass cutting and debushing of open spaces where several bodies were found, while the "Love Your Street" campaign is being redirected to mobilize communities around neighborhood safety.
The Department of Social Development has commenced psychosocial support for families of identified victims. Police have urged the public to report information directly to investigators rather than circulating unverified claims on social media, warning that such sharing can cause additional trauma to families and compromise investigations.
Historical Context and the Scale of the Crisis
The Ekurhuleni killings have unfolded against a backdrop of what Amnesty International South Africa has described as an "epidemic" of gender-based violence and femicide. According to the organization, 42,569 rapes and 7,418 cases of sexual assault were reported in South Africa last year—equivalent to over 116 rapes and 20 sexual assaults per day. The same data recorded 5,578 women murdered and 7,239 attempted murders of women.
A study by the South African Medical Research Council, cited in a parliamentary fact sheet, found that three women per day are killed by an intimate partner in South Africa. The research also noted an alarming trend: in 2009, only 1.6% of femicide cases had no identifiable perpetrator, but by 2020, this figure had risen to 44%, suggesting either a change in perpetration patterns or a decline in investigative outcomes.
South Africa's femicide rate is approximately 12.2 per 100,000 women—roughly five to six times the global average. Approximately one in three women in the country has experienced physical violence from an intimate partner.
While overall contact crime, including murder, has shown a downward trend nationally in recent quarters according to South African Police Service statistics, the localized clustering of female homicides in Ekurhuleni has exposed the limits of aggregate crime data in capturing the lived reality of women in specific communities.
What the President's Address Means
Tuesday evening's presidential address is expected to serve multiple functions: providing the public with a progress report on the investigations, detailing the Comprehensive Emergency Strategy's operational components, and addressing the broader systemic failures that allow such killings to continue.
Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshaveni indicated during a post-Cabinet briefing that government has been monitoring GBVF issues for more than four months, including examining patterns in who commits sexual offenses and noting with concern the involvement of young people in sex-related crimes. She emphasized that responsibility for preventing gender-based violence cannot rest with police alone, urging families, neighbors, and communities to take more active roles in identifying and reporting abuse.
The National Assembly is also expected to debate gender-based violence as a matter of national importance in the coming days.
What Remains Unclear
Several critical questions remain unanswered. Police have not confirmed whether any of the three arrested suspects are linked to more than one killing. The identity of the twelfth victim has not been released, and it remains unclear how many of the identified victims have been formally claimed by their families. The precise cause and manner of death for several victims have not been publicly detailed beyond initial descriptions of bruising, partial undress, and in some cases, stabbing.
Whether the killings represent the work of a single perpetrator, multiple perpetrators, or a combination of unrelated domestic violence incidents and opportunistic crimes remains the central unresolved question. Police have acknowledged similarities in some cases—particularly in how victims were found in open spaces near roads, partially or fully undressed—but have consistently stated that the evidence does not yet support a definitive conclusion.
For the families of the twelve women and for communities across Ekurhuleni, the President's address represents both a moment of reckoning and an uncertain promise. The government has committed to a comprehensive emergency response, but the measure of its success will be whether the killings stop and whether those responsible are held accountable. As the investigation continues and the country awaits the President's words, the women of Ekurhuleni remain a stark symbol of a crisis that South Africa has declared a national emergency but has yet to fully confront.
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