Women in slippers, gowns and blankets rushed into the streets of Dawn Park on Thursday morning after hearing that another woman had been found partially naked and with her throat slit. The grim discovery was made in an open space in Lama Street, in the Villa Lisa area of Dawn Park, Boksburg. The woman was wearing only a blue T-shirt and pink underwear when her body was found.
Her death brings to nine the number of women found dead in Ekurhuleni in just nine weeks, deepening fear across communities already struggling to understand the growing number of cases.
Gauteng police spokesperson Colonel Dimakatso Nevhuhulwi said the woman was believed to be about 30 years old, but had not yet been identified. Her family had not been located by the time of the latest update.
Acting Gauteng police commissioner Major General Fred Kekana said preliminary information indicated that the woman may have been killed somewhere else before her body was dumped in Dawn Park.
The discovery immediately drew residents from nearby homes. Many women arrived wrapped in blankets or still wearing the clothes they had been sleeping in, desperate to see what had happened and to understand whether the latest killing could be connected to the deaths of other women across Ekurhuleni.
The latest victim was the third person found dead in the municipality in four days.
On Monday, a partially naked woman with bruises was found in Olifantsfontein. The following day, a woman was discovered beside a road in KwaThema, Springs. Preliminary findings indicated that she had been strangled. Her family later identified her as 38-year-old Dineo Evelyn Motapane.
The three cases have added to a wave of concern surrounding the deaths of women found in different parts of Ekurhuleni. Police have not confirmed that all nine deaths are connected, and investigators are still working to establish the circumstances in each case.
Only three of the nine women have so far been publicly identified. They are 32-year-old Itumeleng Kekana, 38-year-old Elizabeth “Tsontso” Moselakgomo and Motapane.
The families of the remaining victims are still waiting for official identification, information about what happened to their loved ones and, in some cases, the return of their remains. Until identification has been completed, police have not released the names of the other women.
Deputy national police commissioner Lieutenant-General Tebello Mosikili visited the Dawn Park scene as police continued their work. She said the investigation had been treated as a matter requiring national attention and expressed confidence in the teams assigned to the cases.
Mosikili said:
“I am very confident, and I will say this, putting my head on the block, that the teams that we have are very much able and capable of doing it.”
She said investigators were following every lead and that the provincial police could not be expected to handle a case of this size without assistance from the national office.
Mosikili said:
“We cannot give a case of this magnitude to the province alone. At least the national head office is here.”
The police presence at the scene was closely watched by residents, many of whom have raised concerns about their safety while walking, exercising or travelling alone. The latest body was found in an open space, while other victims were discovered near roads and in areas where they could be left without immediately being noticed.
Police have not said how the Dawn Park woman died beyond the visible injury to her throat, and no motive has been announced. The circumstances of her death will form part of the investigation, including where she may have been killed, who transported her body and who left her in Lama Street.
Acting police minister Firoz Cachalia urged caution before drawing conclusions about the nine deaths. He said it was too early to state that the incidents formed a pattern.
That position has not eased the anxiety among women living in Ekurhuleni. The number of bodies, the locations where they were discovered and the condition of some of the victims have left residents demanding a faster investigation and visible action from law enforcement.
Police have offered a R400 000 reward for information that could lead to arrests in connection with the killings. The Democratic Alliance has offered an additional R500 000 reward, taking the total potential reward to R900 000 for information that helps police identify and arrest those responsible.
Investigators are expected to examine information from residents, motorists, security officers and people who may have seen suspicious vehicles or activity around the places where the bodies were discovered. They will also need to compare the circumstances of the deaths and establish whether there are links between the cases.
The discovery in Dawn Park has placed another community at the centre of the investigation. Residents who ran from their homes on Thursday morning were not only reacting to one body in an open space. They were confronting the fear created by nine women dying across Ekurhuleni within a short period.
For the family of the woman in Lama Street, the first priority will be learning who she was and bringing her home. For police, the pressure is now to identify her, establish how she died and determine whether her killing is connected to the other cases.
As the investigation widens, women across the municipality are left asking the same question: who is responsible, and how many more families must wait for answers before the killings are solved?
