Three people have been arrested in connection with one of 10 killings of women in South Africa’s Gauteng province, as police confirmed the discovery of a tenth victim in a dam in Soweto.
The South African Police Service (SAPS) said a man and two women were detained at the weekend by the Gauteng Murder and Robbery Unit over the murder of Jabulile Ntimba, 30, whose body was found half-naked with her throat slit in Dawn Park, Boksburg, on September 17.
Ntimba was the ninth woman to be found dead in Ekurhuleni, east of Johannesburg, since July, in a string of cases that has triggered national outrage and fears of a serial killer.
On Monday, Deputy National Commissioner Lieutenant General Tebello Mosikili told a media briefing that investigators believe Ntimba’s killing was driven by a personal dispute, not linked to the wider pattern.
“In Jabulile Ntimba’s case, it appears to be an indication of a murder that stemmed from a relationship,” Mosikili said. “This describes the possible love triangle. That is what the team is picking up.”
The three suspects were due to appear in the Boksburg Magistrate’s Court on Monday. Police said they would not rush other cases to court without thorough forensic analysis.
Hours before the briefing, police confirmed a tenth victim had been found. The unidentified woman, estimated to be in her twenties, was discovered on Sunday evening wrapped in a duvet and floating in a dam at Moroka in Soweto, on the south-western edge of Johannesburg.
“We owe this to the families of the victims, now standing at 10 with the recent discovery in Soweto, that they do get justice,” Mosikili said.
The other victims have been named by police as Busisiwe Mahlangu – found in Kempton Park on July 15; Itumeleng Kekana – August 3; Nomfesane Mjobo – August 26; Gracious Nkomo – September 10; Elizabeth Moselakgomo – September 12; Dineo Motapane – September 15; and two unidentified women found in Olifantsfontein on September 7 and 14.
Most were found partially clothed and wrapped in sheets or blankets, with injuries suggesting a struggle. Police say they are still trying to establish whether the cases are connected.
“We are still connecting the dots. We are not discounting the possibility” of a serial killer, Mosikili said.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has ordered police to deploy all resources, including surveillance technology, to find those responsible. South Africa has one of the world’s highest rates of femicide and gender-based violence, with more than 2,700 women killed in 2023/24, according to police statistics.
Investigations are continuing, and police have urged families of missing women in Ekurhuleni and Soweto to come forward to assist with identification.
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