A woman left her home for an afternoon jog. It was an ordinary act. An attempt to exercise, clear her mind or enjoy the outdoors. She did not return home alive.
The death of 38-year-old Elizabeth “Tsontso” Moselakgomo, whose body was discovered after she went missing while jogging in Kempton Park, has become part of a deeply disturbing series of cases under investigation in Ekurhuleni.
Nine women’s bodies have now reportedly been discovered across the region over approximately two months. Police have not yet confirmed that the deaths are the work of a serial killer. A multidisciplinary task team is investigating whether the cases are connected. That distinction is important: speculation must not outrun evidence. While this is important, caution about terminology must never dilute the urgency of what has happened and continues to happen across this nation.
According to official national crime statistics 569 women were murdered in South Africa between April and June 2026. This past week alone we have learnt that nine women are dead.
Ten families are grieving, after another body was found in Soweto.
Communities are frightened and women are once again being warned to restrict their movements to protect themselves.
Why are women still being asked to disappear?
Whenever a woman is attacked while jogging, walking, travelling, dating, working late or simply moving through the world, the questions often begin with her behaviour. Why was she alone? Why did she go there? Why was she outside at that time? Why did she trust that person? Why did she not take greater precautions? These questions place the burden of violence on the person who suffered it instead of the person who committed it.
South Africa cannot continue responding to violence against women by shrinking women’s lives. We cannot tell women not to run, not to walk, not to travel, not to accept opportunities that require them to work late and not to participate fully in public life. A country cannot call its people free while half its population must constantly calculate whether exercising that freedom could cost them their lives.
The question should never be: Why did she go for a jog alone?
The question should be: Why have we failed to create a society in which she could return home safely?
This is not an isolated moment. The discoveries in Ekurhuleni have reopened a wound that South Africa has never managed to close. The country’s first national gender-based violence study found that 35.5% of women aged 18 and older had experienced physical or sexual violence in their lifetime, representing an estimated 7.8 million women.
Children are also living inside this crisis. Statistics South Africa reported that rape accounted for 38.3% of recorded crimes against children in 2022/23. Behind every percentage is a child whose innocence, confidence and sense of safety may never be fully restored.
These are not simply crime statistics. They reveal a national failure that follows women and children into their homes, schools, workplaces, relationships, public transport systems and recreational spaces.
Government and law-enforcement agencies must respond decisively. Investigations must be properly resourced. Public spaces must be assessed for inadequate lighting, neglected pathways, poor surveillance and insufficient police visibility. Perpetrators must be found, prosecuted and convicted.
However, families living with fear cannot afford to wait for the entire system to change before they are given practical ways to protect the people they love.
Technology cannot end violence - but it can create a critical window
No wearable device can dismantle the social conditions that enable gender-based violence. Technology cannot replace effective policing, functioning courts, community vigilance, safer infrastructure or the difficult work of changing attitudes towards women. It can, however, help to close the dangerous gap between a person realising that something is wrong and someone else knowing that they need help. That gap can be the difference between an emergency remaining hidden and an immediate response being activated.
The Khoi Afriwatch S was developed with this reality in mind. It includes a dedicated SOS button that allows the wearer to call an emergency contact without first having to find, unlock and operate a mobile phone. Its location-tracking capability can help authorised loved ones determine where the wearer is, while its calling function provides a direct line of communication from the wrist.
For a child travelling between school and home, an elderly family member living independently, a woman exercising outdoors or an employee working in an isolated environment, that connection may provide a vital additional layer of support. It is not a guarantee of safety. No responsible technology company should pretend otherwise. The device must be charged, connected and supported by trusted people who understand how to respond when an alert is received.
We must be careful that location technology does not become an instrument of control. Its use must be based on consent, privacy and clearly agreed safety arrangements. Protecting women cannot become another excuse to monitor or restrict them. If used responsibly, a wearable safety device can create something that many South African families desperately need: the ability to know that a loved one can call for help quickly and that, during an emergency, their last known location may be available.
Safety must enable freedom
We need to change the national conversation from “Stop living because the world is dangerous” to “How can we protect you while you continue living?” That means equipping women and children with practical tools while continuing to demand systemic accountability. It means building community response networks, improving public infrastructure, strengthening policing and ensuring that emergency alerts lead to meaningful action.
Families should also have clear response plans. Emergency contacts should know what an SOS alert means, who will call the police, who will check the wearer’s location and who is physically close enough to assist. Technology is most effective when it forms part of a living network of care.
South Africa’s women should be able to jog, study, travel, build businesses, work, socialise and occupy public spaces without being blamed for the violence committed against them. Our children should be able to go to school, visit friends and explore their communities without their families living in constant fear.
We must continue demanding that the police, justice system, government, private sector and communities confront the conditions that allow violence to flourish. But while that work continues, let us also place accessible safety solutions into people’s hands. This means, not designing smaller lives for women and children. Instead, let us design a safer country around them.
Seati Moloi is the founder and CEO of Khoi Tech