South African police are racing to crack the killings of at least eight women whose bodies have been found east of Johannesburg in two months, the latest on Tuesday.
A suspect was arrested two days later. The killings have drawn condemnation from civil society and sporting bodies as calls grow for action on gender-based violence, which South Africa has declared a national emergency. 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, police said. The first victim, a 37-year-old woman, was found naked and bound with cable ties on July 15, police said. South Africa, a nation of 62 million people, has some of the highest rates of violence against women and children in the world, according to UN Women.
Police said six bodies were recovered in the Ekurhuleni municipality in just one week, with only two of the victims identified so far. It remained unclear whether the killings were carried out by a single perpetrator, multiple suspects or copycat criminals, police said. “The challenge is ahead of us and the deaths of these young women must not be in vain,” acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia told reporters after a meeting to discuss the killings.
