Ramaphosa Pledges Justice as Bodies of More Women Surface Near Johannesburg

On Monday, police identified one of the victims as Elizabeth Moselakgomo, a runner whose disappearance the previous week had triggered an intense and widely publicized search.

President Ramaphosa stated that he had ordered the cases to be treated as priorities: “Our law enforcement agencies are working urgently to establish the facts, keep communities safe, and bring the perpetrator or perpetrators to justice.”

South Africa has among the highest rates of gender-based violence (GBV) in the world, with women being killed at a rate five times the global average, according to UN Women.

The discovery of the bodies has provoked widespread outrage and fear across the nation, with many condemning authorities for their failure to adequately protect women.

Moselakgomo’s relatives identified her body on Monday, after it was discovered on Saturday. It was her young daughter, aged just a child, who first raised the alarm after the 38-year-old failed to return from her regular morning run last Wednesday.

The first woman’s body was found in mid-July, the second in late August, and the remaining discoveries were made this month, with three found since Monday alone.

On Tuesday morning, police announced that the body of a woman discovered on 7 September in a town near Kempton Park would also be included in the count.

“After noticing that bodies were being recovered, we returned to our police stations… and unfortunately it emerged that the body of a female in her late 20s had been spotted in a river adjacent to a shopping mall,” said Major-General Fred Kekana, acting police chief for Gauteng province, at a press briefing.

An additional body was discovered later that same day.

Police have advised women in the Kempton Park area — located near South Africa’s main international airport — to refrain from walking or running alone, particularly in isolated areas.

South Africa’s Commission for Gender Equality called on Kempton Park residents to cooperate with law enforcement in bringing those responsible to account.

“These deaths are indicative that women in South Africa continue to live in environments where their ordinary freedom of movement can become a matter of life and death,” the commission stated.

“Women should be able to run, walk to work, use public transport, return home, visit friends, and participate in community life without having to calculate whether an everyday activity could place their lives at risk.”

Source link