Ekurhuleni: The Ninth Body Found

The body of a woman, believed to be around 30 years old, was found on an open piece of ground in Lama Street, Villa Lisa, Dawn Park, on 17 September 2026. She is the 9th woman found dead in Ekurhuleni since July 2026. Police have a suspect in custody for the first killing and are pursuing a separate person of interest for the others, but will not say if the cases are connected. Residents and victims’ families say the real failure is not a missing name, it is an area where a woman can be killed with almost no risk of anyone being caught.

On the morning of 17 September 2026, women from the Villa Lisa area of Dawn Park, Boksburg, found the body of a woman lying face down on an open piece of ground in Lama Street. She was wearing a blue T-shirt and pink underwear, and police believe she was around 30 years old. Her name has not yet been confirmed.

She is the 9th woman found dead in Ekurhuleni since July 2026, in a case that now spans Kempton Park, Olifantsfontein, KwaThema in Springs, and now Dawn Park.

At the scene, a woman who said her sister had gone to identify the body told reporters she herself had not seen it. A man who said he was the victim’s brother said he had not seen the body either, but that a friend had told him it was his sister. He said he had last seen her toward the end of last week, and that she had reportedly been visiting her boyfriend in the area. Police have not confirmed any of this, and none of it is official until fingerprints come back.

Acting Gauteng Police Commissioner Major-General Fred Kekana and Deputy National Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Tebello Mosikili addressed media at the scene. Kekana described the body as having been found semi-naked with her throat slit, and said preliminary indications are that the murder happened elsewhere and the body was dumped in Dawn Park. Mosikili fielded questions from reporters, including on whether the killing is linked to the other 8 deaths or is a copycat. “We need to connect the dots,” she said, “or this is an isolated case.”

Police already run a weekly high-visibility operation in the area called Operation Shanela, which was underway before this 9th body was found, and officials have said it will be expanded further in response to the killings.

A suspect remains in custody, arrested after the first of the killings in July. He appeared in court again this week and remains remanded in custody. Police believe he may not be a South African national, though his exact nationality is still being confirmed through the Department of Home Affairs. Mosikili said the Democratic Alliance’s R500,000 reward for information, announced without consulting police, will run separately from the state’s own R400,000 reward.

Families connected to the case say police have not kept them informed. The family of Elizabeth “Tsontso” Moselakgomo, one of the earlier victims, has spoken publicly about the case; her friend Sakane Mokoena wrote on social media after her death, “In this country we are prey.” Separately, the family of Leah Moumakoa, whose death in June they fear may be linked to the same pattern of killings, say police could not give them photographs or forensic details of the body, and that CCTV footage near where she was found was never pulled. Her sister, Boitumelo Molenatsi, has said she is the one pushing police for answers, not the other way round.

Residents in the Ekurhuleni communities where the bodies have been found have pointed to broken street lights, uncut grass and a lack of visible policing as conditions that make it easier for a criminal to hide. “If you did your jobs and kept grass cut and street lights working and had visible policing, there would be less opportunity for a criminal to hide,” one resident, Desiree Hayes, said.

Two months and 9 bodies later, police have not named a single suspect for most of the deaths, and have not said whether the cases are connected. For residents and victims’ families, the more pressing question is not how many people are responsible, but why this area has become one where a woman can be killed with so little chance that anyone will be caught.

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