What police confirmed on Thursday
A ninth woman’s body was found in Dawn Park, Boksburg, on the morning of Thursday, 17 September 2026, taking the Ekurhuleni murders investigation to nine women found dead across the metro since mid-July.
“The body was discovered earlier this morning, September 17. This brings the total number of bodies discovered to nine in two months,” said Gauteng police spokesperson Colonel Dimakatso Nevhuhulwi. The woman was found at the roadside, partly clothed, and her identity had not been released. Acting Gauteng Provincial Commissioner Major General Fred Kekana said she appeared to be about 30.
The South African Police Service also shifted its public position. Having said on 14 September that it was premature to conclude the cases were linked, police have now confirmed on the record that some of the murders may be linked, while continuing to caution against concluding that all nine are connected or that one person is responsible.
Four of the nine women have been identified. Five have not.
The most immediate change in the investigation is an identification tool. Police have brought in the Department of Home Affairs to access biometric information, including fingerprint records, to put names to the unidentified women and develop leads.
How the last two women were identified
The two women named this week were both identified because their families went looking for them.
Dineo Evelyn Motapane, 38, was found beside a road in KwaThema, Springs, on Tuesday. Her family said they only realised it might be her when they went to a police station on Wednesday to open a missing persons case and were given a description that included a distinctive tattoo. They identified her at the Springs Mortuary.
Gracious Nkomo, 28, was found along the R21 in Kempton Park on 10 September. A missing persons alert for her had been circulating on social media for more than two weeks. Her family positively identified her at the Germiston mortuary on Thursday evening. She had been working at a lodge in Kempton Park at the time she disappeared.
Both identifications started with a family walking into a police station, not with a match produced by the system. That is the practical reason five women remain unnamed two months into this, and it is why the Home Affairs biometric step matters. Fingerprint records held on the national population register can produce an identification without anyone coming forward.
Acting National Commissioner Lieutenant General Puleng Dimpane offered condolences to Nkomo’s family and said the multidisciplinary team of investigators and specialists was working “around the clock” on each case.
For anyone whose relative or friend is missing in the affected areas, the operative step is to open a missing persons case rather than wait. That is what produced both of this week’s identifications.
Where the Ekurhuleni murders investigation stands
| Element | Position as at Friday, 18 September 2026 |
|---|---|
| Bodies recovered | Nine, since mid-July |
| Areas involved | Kempton Park, Pomona, Clayville, Olifantsfontein, Rhodesfield, KwaThema, Dawn Park |
| Identified | Four, including Dineo Evelyn Motapane and Gracious Nkomo |
| Unidentified | Five |
| In custody | One man, connected to the first case. Nationality not established |
| Person of interest | One further person under investigation |
| Police position on linkage | Some of the cases may be linked. Not all nine confirmed as connected |
| Identification method added | Department of Home Affairs biometric and fingerprint records |
| Reward | R400 000 |
Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi, speaking at the Dawn Park scene, said police were pursuing leads and making progress in two or three cases without giving details, and urged the public to give investigators time to gather evidence. “They’ve declared war against the state. We’ll respond,” he said, according to reporting by the Associated Press.
Deputy National Commissioner Lieutenant-General Tebello Mosikili, also at Dawn Park, said simply: “We cannot continue picking up bodies.”
President Cyril Ramaphosa has directed that the cases be prioritised and has said he has been personally briefed on progress. Acting Minister of Police Firoz Cachalia has appealed to residents’ sense of responsibility to come forward, rather than relying on the reward alone.
What police have not confirmed about the suspect
One man is in custody in connection with the first of the killings. His nationality has not been established, and police have been unusually explicit about that.
“We cannot say yes, it’s a non-South African, but we have been informed that it is a non-South African, but from which country?” Mosikili said.
That is an unverified line of information, not a finding, and police have said so themselves. It matters that it stays that way. Claims about the nationality of a suspect in a case of this profile spread quickly, and they are spreading in a month in which Nigeria’s National Assembly suspended official visits to South Africa over reported attacks on foreign nationals.
No nationality has been confirmed. No country has been named by police. No second arrest has been announced, and the person of interest has not been described.
Southafriworld is not reporting the man’s name, because he has not been named publicly by police and has not appeared in court on these charges.
What is being asked of the public
Police have placed additional resources into the City of Ekurhuleni, with increased visibility and roadblocks in Kempton Park. The Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department has separately stepped up night-time policing across the city.
The safety guidance has not changed. SAPS has urged women not to walk or run alone, particularly in isolated areas, to avoid secluded spaces, and to travel or exercise in groups where possible.
Anyone with information can contact Crime Stop on 08600 10111, or submit an anonymous tip through the MySAPS App. Warrant Officer Elvis Manyike remains the named contact for this investigation on 082 465 7249.
A former SAPS profiler has said publicly that the cases should be treated as a serial investigation. Police have not adopted that position, and have said they are comparing evidence, timelines, locations, victim profiles and the circumstances of each death before drawing conclusions.
Five women still have no names attached to them. Until that changes, the question of how many of these cases belong together cannot be answered, and the Home Affairs fingerprint work is the step most likely to change it.
HOW WE REPORTED THIS
- Only the two women whose families have publicly identified them through SAPS are named. The remaining victims are not named, and no victim's family is quoted.
- The article does not describe the injuries of the woman found in Dawn Park. Police described them publicly, but they are not necessary to report the investigation and are omitted.
- The shift in the police position is reported precisely against their own earlier statement. On 14 September police said it was premature to conclude the cases were linked. They have now said some of the cases may be linked while continuing to caution against concluding that all nine are connected.
- The observation that both of this week's identifications began with families opening missing persons cases is drawn from the two published accounts of how each was made. It is reported as a description of how the identifications happened, not as a criticism of SAPS.
- The suspect's nationality is reported exactly as Deputy National Commissioner Mosikili put it, including his own statement that it cannot be confirmed. The article states that no nationality has been confirmed and notes the current context in which unverified claims of this kind circulate. The man in custody is not named, because police have not named him and he has not appeared in court on these charges.
- The view that the cases should be treated as a serial investigation is attributed to a former SAPS profiler and is clearly distinguished from the position police have taken.
- No comment was sought from SAPS, the Ministry of Police, the Gauteng Provincial Government or any family for this article. Every quotation used was already on the public record.
