Nine in nine weeks: The Kempton Park questions police still need to answer - IOL

Gauteng police have discovered at least nine bodies in the Kempton Park killings saga.

Nine women have been found dead across Ekurhuleni in nine weeks, with their bodies discovered in fields, beside roads, near the R21, in a river and behind a hotel.

The latest discovery came on Thursday, when women rushed from their homes in Dawn Park, some still in slippers, dressing gowns and blankets, after hearing that another woman had been found dead.

The woman, believed to be about 30, was found partially clothed in an open area on Lama Street, Villa Lisa, wearing a blue T-shirt and pink underwear. 

Police said she had suffered a fatal throat injury.

The discovery has intensified concern across the metro, but police have stressed that it is still too early to say whether the deaths are connected.

Her death brought to nine the number of women found dead in Ekurhuleni over nine weeks - a grim sequence that has left residents fearful and investigators searching for answers.

But the most important question remains unanswered: are the cases connected?

Acting police minister Firoz Cachalia said this week that it was too early to establish whether there was a pattern linking the deaths. 

At the same time, police have escalated the investigation, bringing in national resources and deploying a multidisciplinary team.

Deputy national police commissioner Lieutenant-General Tebello Mosikili said investigators were following every lead.

“We cannot give a case of this magnitude to the province alone,” she said.

Deputy National Commissioner Lieutenant-General Tebello Mosikili, flanked by Acting Gauteng Provincial Police Commissioner Major-General Fred Kekana, gives an update on the discovery of women’s bodies in Kempton Park.

The first woman was found on July 15 in a field in Kempton Park. She was 37, was found naked and with her hands bound with cable ties. 

A suspect was arrested two days later. Her identity and cause of death have not been publicly disclosed.

On July 17, Itumeleng Kekana, 32, went missing in Kempton Park. 

Her family searched hospitals, police stations and mortuaries before her body was found on August 3 on Great North Road in Pomona. 

She left behind her parents and a 14-year-old daughter.

On August 24, a 32-year-old woman was found partially clothed near the R21. Her identity and cause of death have not been publicly disclosed.

On September 7, the body of a woman believed to be in her late 20s was found in a river in Clayville, near Mall of Tembisa. 

She was wearing only her underwear.

Three days later, on September 10, a woman's body was found near the R21 in Kempton Park.

Her family later identified her as Gracious Nkomo, 28. Police said she had been found partially clothed.

Around the same period, Elizabeth “Tsontso” Moselakgomo, 38, was found dead behind a hotel in Rhodesfield after going out for her usual run. 

On September 14, a semi-naked bruised woman's body was found in Olifantsfontein. 

She has not been publicly identified in the information available.

The following day, Dineo Evelyn Motapane, 38, was found beside a road in KwaThema, Springs. Preliminary pathology findings indicated she had been strangled. 

Her family identified her at Springs Mortuary.

The ninth body was found in Lama Street on September 17. 

Gauteng acting provincial commissioner Major-General Fred Kekana said preliminary information indicated the woman had been killed elsewhere and her body dumped in Dawn Park.

Gracious Nkomo has been identified as the third woman whose body was discovered along the R21 in Kempton Park.

Only four victims have been publicly identified: Kekana, Moselakgomo, Motapane and Nkomo.

The identities of the other victims remain unknown.

Police have confirmed an investigation involving specialist teams and national resources is underway. 

Acting national police commissioner Lieutenant-General Puleng Dimpane has also said police are tracing a person of interest.

A R400,000 reward has been announced by the police for information that could assist the investigation, and the Democratic Alliance separately announced a R500,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. 

However, Mosikili said police had not been informed of the conditions attached to the DA's offer and said they would not accept it.

She said the SAPS already had a process for handling rewards.

The party subsequently said leads would be channelled through to the police.

Elizabeth Mokolo Moselakgomo, who disappeared after leaving home for an afternoon run in Kempton Park.

Several victims were found partially or fully undressed. Several bodies were discovered in the Kempton Park area or nearby. 

Some were found in isolated or open spaces.

But similarities are not the same as evidence of a common perpetrator.

Police have not publicly confirmed a shared DNA profile, cellphone trail, vehicle, suspect, weapon or other forensic evidence linking all nine cases.

Nor has a common motive been established.

The first question is whether one person or group is responsible for the deaths.

The second is where the women were killed. 

Police say the Dawn Park victim appears to have been killed elsewhere, but it is not known whether the same applies to the other victims.

The third is how most of the women died. 

Apart from Motapane's reported strangulation and the throat injury suffered by the Dawn Park victim, the causes of death have not been publicly detailed.

The fourth is what happened to each woman before she died. 

Their last movements, who saw them alive and how they came to be at the locations where their bodies were found could become crucial to establishing connections.

And there is the question of the person of interest.

Police have not publicly explained which case that person relates to or what evidence led investigators to them.

Similarly, while a suspect was arrested after the first July killing and remains in custody, there is no confirmation that the person is connected to any of the subsequent deaths.

Meanwhile, police have urged women and girls to take extra care when walking, running or exercising, while stressing that the warning is not intended to prevent women from living their lives.