Twelve women have been killed in one part of South Africa since July. Here's what we know so far

Twelve women have been killed in one part of South Africa since July. Here's what we know so far

The discovery of 12 bodies in an area east of Johannesburg has triggered alarm in South Africa.

Police in South Africa have confirmed that the bodies of three more women have been found in an area east of Johannesburg, taking the total discovered there to 12 in just two months.

According to local police, the latest bodies were found in Ekurhuleni between Saturday and Monday morning.

Police have arrested suspects in three of the cases, which do not appear to be connected to the others. Even so, police say they cannot dismiss the possibility of a serial killer.

The discoveries have caused widespread concern in Ekurhuleni, especially around Kempton Park, and come amid long-running fears over high levels of violence against women in South Africa.

Busisiwe Mahlangu’s body was discovered in Kempton Park on 15 July 2026, the first in a series of bodies found in Ekurhuleni over a two-month period. The 37-year-old was found naked with her hands tied with cable ties.

Police arrested a suspect, thought to be her partner, two days after her murder. He has remained in police custody since then and has not been linked to the later deaths.

Itumeleng Kekana, 32, was the second woman whose body was found in the same area on 3 August 2026.

The young mother vanished in July and her body was found badly bruised, partly clothed and dumped on a bridge in Kempton Park.

No arrests have been made.

Nomfesane Mjobo’s body was found on 26 August, also in Kempton Park.

Few details about her death have been released, but like most of the victims, she was found partially or fully naked and bruised.

No arrests have been made.

Police confirmed the discovery of an unidentified woman in her 20s on 7 September. Her body was found floating in a river in Olifantsfontain, wearing only her underwear.

No further details have been released about her death and no arrests have been made.

Gracious Nkomo was the fifth woman whose body was found, again in the Kempton Park area.

Her partly clothed body was discovered on 10 September along a road near South Africa’s busiest airport. No arrests have been made in the 28-year-old’s death.

Elizabeth Moselakgomo was the sixth woman to be found, after a widely publicised nationwide search for her. The 38-year-old disappeared while out on her daily run near her home in Kempton Park.

Her body was found badly bruised and partly clothed on 12 September. The discovery of her body was what truly raised alarm over the string of killings. No arrests have been made in her case.

Police confirmed another body had been found just two days after Moselakgomo was discovered. The body was found in Olifantsfontein on 14 September, but police have withheld her name because her family has not yet been informed.

No arrests have been made.

The body of Dineo Motapane, 38, was found on 15 September, just two days after she was last seen alive.

Motapane’s battered and partly burned body was discovered on the side of the road in Springs, another part of Ekurhuleni.

She leaves behind a young child. No arrests have been made in her case.

The body of Jabulile Ntimba, in her 30s, was found half-naked and wrapped in a sheet on the side of a road in Boksburg on 17 September. This was the ninth body found in Ekurhuleni.

Police say Ntimba appears to have been killed because of a possible love triangle. Three people, two women and a man, were initially arrested for her brutal murder, but the man was released because of insufficient evidence.

The two women have been charged with premeditated murder and defeating the ends of justice.

The body of Ntombifuthi Nxumalo, the 10th body found in Ekurhuleni, was discovered at a cemetery in the Tembisa neighbourhood north-east of central Johannesburg on 26 September. She was found naked with severe head injuries, along with stones near her body.

This has led police to believe she may have been stoned to death.

A 36-year-old man was arrested a day after Nxumalo’s death after travelling to another province. He faces a murder charge.

The body of an unidentified woman was found in Springs on Sunday — the 11th body found in Ekurhuleni.

The grim discovery was made by a security company patrolling the area.

The woman was found in an open field, but no further details have been released.

No arrests have been made.

Another woman was shot dead on Monday in Tembisa, Ekurhuleni, this time in what appears to have been a robbery. The 23-year-old woman was on her way to work when she was gunned down and her belongings were also taken.

She has not yet been named.

This is the 12th body found in the same area, but police have not found any connection between this case and the discovery of the other bodies.

Although most of the bodies were found in the same area, police confirmed the discovery of another body about 39 miles (63 km) from Ekurhuleni on 20 September.

The body of a young woman, believed to be in her 20s, was found wrapped in a duvet in a dam in Soweto, south-west of Johannesburg.

It is unclear whether her murder is linked to those in Ekurhuleni.

President Cyril Ramaphosa said the killing of these women and others was a "stain on our national conscience".

South Africa has one of the highest homicide rates, with 5,427 people murdered between April and June this year alone.

South African police statistics do not separate victims by gender, but the South African Human Rights Commission said last week that 569 women were killed between April and June this year. That works out to an average of six women killed each day.

Police have formed a task team to investigate the murders and have offered a reward of 400,000 rand ($24,000; £18,000) for information leading to arrests.