US lashes SA over crime as women's bodies pile up - IOL

Municipality workers are seen fill potholes on Mustang Street, as Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi, to visit the family of Elizabeth “Tsontso” Moselakgomo, whose body was discovered on Monday in Kempton Park.

Washington has accused the SA government of having no desire to tackle rising crime after the bodies of nine women were found across Ekurhuleni, east of Johannesburg, in as little as nine weeks.

The US State Department made the accusations in answers to questions from IOL about the slew of slayings, which police are still trying to link to each other.

"The US is concerned by rising crime in SA and the lack of desire from the government to adequately address it," a spokesperson said.

"We are deeply saddened by reports of these deaths, and our thoughts are with the victims' families and affected communities.

"This is an active criminal investigation under the jurisdiction of SA authorities, and we refer questions regarding the investigation to the SA Police Service."

The spokesperson said the department's travel advisory for SA had remained at Level 2, which tells Americans to exercise increased caution.

It also asked US citizens in the country to stay aware of their surroundings, follow the instructions of local authorities and sign up to the State Department's Smart Traveler Enrollment Programme to receive alerts from the US embassy.

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order in February 2025 directing his administration to resettle Afrikaners from SA in the US as refugees.

The first group arrived in May that year.

The order cited claims of racial discrimination and violence against Afrikaners, including allegations of land expropriation and farm attacks.

But of the nine women whose bodies have been found in Ekurhuleni, the four identified so far, Itumeleng Kekana, 32, Elizabeth "Tsontso" Moselakgomo, 38, Dineo Evelyn Motapane, 38, and Gracious Nkomo, 28, are all black.

Cabinet ministers, meanwhile, will set out government's response to the string of murders on Sunday.

The Inter-Ministerial Committee on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide will brief the media in Hatfield, Pretoria.

The committee is co-chaired by Sindisiwe Chikunga, the minister in the Presidency for women, youth and persons with disabilities, and social development minister Dina Pule.

Police confirmed on Thursday that the body of a ninth woman had been found in Dawn Park, Boksburg.

The woman, believed to be about 30, was found partially naked with her throat slit in an open space in Lama Street in the Villa Lisa area, and has not been identified.

It is believed she had been killed elsewhere and her body dumped there.

The first body, that of a 37-year-old woman, had been found naked in a field near Kempton Park on July 15 with her hands tied with cable ties, police said.

A man arrested in connection with her death appeared in court on Wednesday, and police said they were investigating whether he was linked to the other killings.

He was arrested two days after her body was found and was remanded in custody at his court appearance.

Deputy national police commissioner Lieutenant General Tebello Mosikili said police were using fingerprints and home affairs records to establish his identity, after early information suggested he was not South African.

She said this had not been confirmed.

Moselakgomo went missing after she left home for a run last week Wednesday, and her body was found three days later.

Acting Gauteng police commissioner Fred Kekana said investigators had not ruled out the possibility that more than one person was responsible, and were comparing the evidence, timelines, locations and victim profiles in each case.

Police have also offered a reward of R400,000 for information that leads to the arrest of whoever is responsible.

President Cyril Ramaphosa said earlier this week that “no stone will be left unturned” to solve the killings.

He said the cases had been prioritised and that the country's men and women in blue were working around the clock to establish the facts and bring those responsible to justice.

Since then, Ramaphosa has been booked off from public engagements due to ill health.