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. Mathe said investigators were also examining whether copycat crimes could be involved, but stressed that police had so far found no links between the cases. But let’s leave it to the detectives.” Princess Eurika Mogane, a commissioner at South Africa’s Commission for Gender Equality, told Al Jazeera the killings reflected a broader crisis facing women across the country.
It feels like individuals are being hunted,” Mogane said. The NSMSA said women alter their routes, avoid travelling at specific times, share their locations with loved ones and restrict their movements to try to stay safe. Her eight-year-old daughter raised the alarm when her mother did not return.
Moselakgomo was found dead three days later on September 12. Nokukhanya Khanyile-Lenake, a specialist paediatrician and mental health advocate, told Al Jazeera that women, as it is, take multiple precautions to protect themselves “from the dangers of gender-based violence”. What particularly struck her, Khanyile-Lenake said, was that Moselakgomo’s eight-year-old daughter “knew the danger signs and did the right thing”, realising her mother had not returned and notifying other family members.
The killings come less than a year after South Africa classified gender-based violence and femicide as a national disaster in November 2025. South Africa’s parliament says the country’s femicide rate is five times the global average. President Cyril Ramaphosa has pledged that perpetrators will face justice, while authorities say police patrols and deployments have been increased in high-risk areas.
But Mogane questioned what had materially changed since the national disaster classification. But what progress has there been?” she said, pointing to the need for more forensic facilities and shelters for survivors. The NSMSA said shelters continue to face inadequate and inconsistent funding, rising demand and capacity constraints, while survivors report delays in police responses and difficulties obtaining or enforcing protection orders.
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