A ninth woman’s body was discovered in Dawn Park, Boksburg, on Thursday morning, adding another case to an investigation that has now stretched across Ekurhuleni for two months.
Police said the woman, believed to be about 30, was found at the scene and it appeared she had not been killed there but placed there after death. The investigation is still at an early stage and her identity has not been released.
Her death comes after eight other women were found dead at different locations in Ekurhuleni since July.
Three of the women have now been identified by their families. They are Itumeleng Kekana, 32, Elizabeth “Tsontso” Moselakgomo, 38, and Dineo Evelyn Motapane, 38.. For the others, identification remains one of the most immediate questions facing investigators - and families whose relatives may have disappeared without being formally reported missing.
Kekana's family had searched for 17 days and nights, praying she would be found alive, before they were called to identify her body. Moselakgomo’s eight-year-old daughter raised the alarm when her mother failed to return from her usual run. Family idemtified her body this week. Motapane was last seen on Sunday, her body was found in Springs on Tuesday, and her family identified her at Springs Mortuary on Wednesday afternoon.
All nine women have been found in the Ekurhuleni area.
The circumstances around their deaths have fuelled speculation that the deaths may be connected, but police have repeatedly warned that this has not been established.
Acting police commissioner Puleng Dimpane said investigators were examining the circumstances of each death and whether there were links between the cases. A multidisciplinary team of detectives, forensic specialists and intelligence officers has been assembled to investigate the cases.
Police have offered R400,000 for information that could lead to arrests. One person has been arrested in connection with one of the deaths, but police have not linked that arrest to the wider investigation.
Investigators are working to identify the women who remain unidentified, establish how they died and reconstruct the circumstances surrounding their deaths.
It is reported that police are also pursuing a person of interest in the wider investigation, but have not disclosed who the person is or confirmed which case they may be linked to.
The discovery of multiple women's bodies in the same metropolitan area has inevitably led to speculation about a common perpetrator, but investigators need evidence linking the cases before making that determination.
That could include forensic evidence, witness information, CCTV footage, telecommunications records and other investigative material.
For now, police have not publicly established a common perpetrator, motive or confirmed connection between the deaths.
The deaths come as South Africa continues to grapple with gender-based violence. The government declared GBVF a national disaster in November 2025.