Eleven women found dead within 10 weeks east of Johannesburg

Othe victims were found this month. The series of murders concerns a country that records one of the highest homicide rates per inhabitant in the world.

The last body was discovered today, at noon, local time, in an open meadow area of the municipality of Ekurhuleni, police reported.

“A vehicle of a security company patrolling the area spotted the body and alerted the police,” police spokesman Brenda Muridili said.

For the time being, details of the identity, age and cause of death of the woman have not been provided.

This discovery follows another, on Saturday, when the body of a half-naked woman near a cemetery of the same municipality was found. Provincial police chief Tommy Mthombeni explained that the victim appeared to have been stoned to death and that an autopsy would be performed to determine the causes of death.

Police also announced the arrest of a man linked to the murder, about 400 kilometers from the crime scene.

With this arrest, the number of people detained in this case rises to four. The police have not yet established any connection between the different murders.

The other nine victims were mostly between 20 and 30. Some were found without clothing, showing signs of sexual assault.

The rates of violence against women, declared a national disaster at the end of 2025 in South Africa, are among the highest in the world, despite the efforts proclaimed by the government to eradicate them.

In the first 16 days of September, the emergency line of the public body to combat this violence registered 6,782 distress calls, that is, an average of 424 per day, which represents an increase of 21% over the same period of August.