Police have widened their investigation into the deaths of women in Ekurhuleni to seven after confirming that a woman whose body was found in Clayville on 7 September will be included in the broader probe.
The clarification came after another woman’s body was discovered in Kwa-Thema, Springs, earlier in the morning. The Kwa-Thema discovery had initially brought the number of bodies under investigation to six.
Acting Gauteng provincial police commissioner Major-General Fred Kekana said the body found in a river near Mall of Thembisa in Clayville had initially been treated separately. Police had decided to include the case in the wider investigation after considering the circumstances surrounding the different deaths.
“We no longer have six bodies, but seven,” Kekana said.
The woman found in Clayville is believed to have been in her late twenties. Her body was discovered floating in a river on 7 September and she has not yet been identified. Police said there were no visible injuries.
The body found in Kwa-Thema remains a developing case. Kekana said a preliminary pathology report indicated that the woman appeared to have been strangled. A full post-mortem examination was expected to provide further information about the circumstances of her death.
Police have stressed that the inclusion of the seven cases in the wider investigation did not mean they had established that all the deaths were connected. Investigators were examining whether the deaths could involve one perpetrator, multiple perpetrators or be separate incidents.
Police have also not confirmed claims that a serial killer is responsible.
Kekana has appealed to members of the public to provide information that could assist investigators, saying police believed someone might have seen or heard something relevant to the cases.
The developments come as President Cyril Ramaphosa has directed law-enforcement agencies to prioritise the investigation.
Ramaphosa said no stone would be left unturned in efforts to establish what happened to the women and bring those responsible to justice.
Police are continuing to analyse evidence from the crime scenes as they work to determine whether there are links between the deaths.