South Africa Announces Women's Safety Audits After 12 Bodies Found Near Johannesburg

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa admitted the government has failed to protect women following the discovery of 12 bodies in Ekurhuleni since July and announced emergency measures including safety audits and forensic backlog reductions. He referenced his 2019 address on gender-based violence after the murder of Uyinene Mrwetyana and said women should not live in fear due to state failures in policing, evidence processing and protection orders. Eleven bodies were found in Ekurhuleni with a 12th in Soweto; at least four arrests made, including Victor Matome Rampedi charged with the murder of Ntombifuthi Nxumalo whose body was found at a cemetery. Police have not found evidence of a single serial perpetrator; a task team is investigating cases clustered around Kempton Park, Clayville, Tembisa and the R21. Ramaphosa announced four interventions: a 60-day audit of unresolved GBV cases, a funded plan to clear forensic backlogs with quarterly reports, municipal women's safety audits identifying broken lights and unsafe spaces within 60 days, and a package to reduce alcohol-related violence. South Africa recorded 3,422 women murdered in 2023/24; its intimate-partner femicide rate is five times the global average. In separate cases, an Edo State court sentenced four people to death for the kidnapping and related crimes of a woman at a Benin City vegetable market, while two US-based Nigerians received prison terms for a $2.4 million cyber fraud scheme.

Ramaphosa Acknowledges Government Failures on Gender-Based Violence

President Cyril Ramaphosa stated on Tuesday evening that the government had not done enough to protect women. [3] He said what weighs on him most is that seven years ago, in the same month, he stood before the nation to speak about the same crisis, referring to his September 2019 address on gender-based violence and femicide following the murder of Uyinene Mrwetyana. [3] Ramaphosa described the violence and cruelty inflicted on women as a source of pain and national shame. [3] He said women should not have to live in fear because government has failed to repair a light, clear a public space, process evidence or enforce a law. [3] Where the state fails women, we must hold ourselves accountable and correct those failures, he added. [3] Ramaphosa noted that a woman who summons the courage to report abuse must not be turned away from a police station and a woman seeking a protection order must not be sent from office to office. [3] A forensic sample must not sit unprocessed while a perpetrator remains free, he said. [3] He acknowledged that gender-based violence had been classified as a national disaster last year but stressed that institutions and programmes meant little if they did not work when women needed them. [3]

Details of the Ekurhuleni Killings

Eleven women’s bodies had been found in Ekurhuleni since July, with a 13th body found floating in Moroka Dam in Soweto. [3] Ramaphosa highlighted that 11 women’s bodies had been found in Ekurhuleni since July before naming victims from across the country, including young girls and an elderly grandmother. [3] There are others whose names we do not yet know, he said, adding that there are women lying tonight in government mortuaries waiting to be identified. [3] Behind each of these terrible deaths was a human being whose life had value, whose future mattered and whose absence has left a family and a community grieving, the president stated. [3] The remains of Ntombifuthi Nxumalo were discovered at Mooifontein Cemetery in the Vusimuzi section of Thembisa on Saturday, 26 September. [3] She was the 10th of 12 women reported to have been murdered in Ekurhuleni since July. [3] Her uncle, Vincent Nxumalo, said the family was struggling to come to terms with her death and was trying to make arrangements to take her body home to KwaZulu-Natal. [3] He appealed to Ramaphosa to do more to protect women. [3] Nxumalo was last seen leaving a tavern before community members living near the cemetery heard a woman screaming and pleading for her life. [3] She was found with serious head injuries, and police suspect she may have been stoned. [3]

Police Investigation and Arrests

The SAPS has appointed a task team to investigate the murders. [3] While acknowledging similarities in the victims' profiles and crime scenes, the police warned against speculating that a serial killer is at large in Gauteng. [3] Geographically, the cases cluster around Kempton Park, Clayville, Tembisa and the R21, with outlying incidents recorded in Dawn Park and Springs. [3] Police have publicly identified 10 of the 13 victims. [3] At least four were reported missing before their bodies were found. [3] At least four arrests have been made in connection with the Ekurhuleni killings. [4] Victor Matome Rampedi, 36, appeared in the Thembisa Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday facing a murder charge in the case of Ntombifuthi Nxumalo. [3] Rampedi was arrested after allegedly fleeing to Tzaneen, Limpopo. [3] He remains in custody and told the court he intends to apply for bail. [3] The matter was postponed to 6 October. [3] Police have not found evidence establishing that these killings were committed by a single perpetrator. [4] Ramaphosa said police had identified further persons of interest in other cases and were examining forensic material, including DNA, blood samples, clothing and cellphone records. [3]

New Emergency Measures Announced

Ramaphosa announced four measures aimed at strengthening the state’s response to gender-based violence and femicide. [3] A national case-recovery operation requires the police and justice departments to audit unresolved murders, attempted murders, rapes and serious sexual offences involving women and children within 60 days, with recovery plans for priority and stalled cases within 90 days. [3] A forensic backlog measure requires police and forensic authorities to produce a funded plan within 60 days to reduce backlogs and establish turnaround standards for priority cases, with progress reported publicly every quarter. [3] Women’s safety audits require municipalities to identify risks, including broken streetlights, unsafe public spaces, abandoned buildings and dangerous transport routes within 60 days, with urgent hazards addressed or placed in funded implementation plans within 90 days. [3] An alcohol-related violence measure requires the government to develop a coordinated legislative and enforcement package to reduce alcohol-related violence, including stronger enforcement against unlicensed liquor outlets and establishments operating outside permitted hours. [3] The Inter-Ministerial Committee and National Council on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide will monitor the measures, with the first consolidated progress report due within 90 days and further reports published quarterly. [3] Ramaphosa said every municipality must begin a women’s safety audit without delay and high-risk areas must be identified and addressed. [4] He also announced an enforcement package to reduce alcohol-related violence, noting that alcohol does not cause gender-based violence and it can never excuse it. [4]

Broader Context of Femicide in South Africa

In 2023/24, 3,422 women were murdered in the country. [3] South Africa’s intimate-partner femicide rate is five times the global rate, with the South African Medical Research Council estimating that three women were killed by an intimate partner every day in 2020/21. [3] The research also points to a crisis of accountability: police failed to identify a perpetrator in 44.2% of femicide cases in 2020/21, more than double the 19% recorded in 1999. [3] South Africa has one of the highest homicide rates, with 5,427 people murdered between April and June this year alone. [4] The South African Human Rights Commission said recently that 569 women were killed and 1,052 others survived attempted murder between April and June this year. [4] Ramaphosa said gender-based violence cannot be accepted as a normal part of life in South Africa and admitted the country has not done enough to protect women and girls. [4]

Other Crime Convictions Reported

The Edo State Special Criminal Court has sentenced four persons to death for their involvement in the kidnapping of a woman in the popular Vegetable Market, off Airport Road in Benin City. [1] Justice Aigbona Momodu gave the judgement on 11-count charges of kidnapping, conspiracy, armed robbery, cultism and unlawful possession of firearms. [1] The four sentenced persons are Marvellous Isaac, 32; Wisdom Michael, 36; Rufus Michael, 30; and Gift Raphael, 27. [1] Two Nigerians based in the United States, Chijioke Timothy Odimegwu and Harafat Mogaji, have been sentenced to a combined 189 months in federal prison for their roles in an international cyber intrusion scheme that defrauded businesses of more than $2.4m. [2] Odimegwu was sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 111 months and ordered to pay restitution for $366,617.59. [2] Mogaji was sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 78 months and ordered to pay restitution of $995,680.45. [2]

What to watch next: The first consolidated progress report on the four interventions is due within 90 days, with further quarterly reports to follow under monitoring by the Inter-Ministerial Committee and National Council on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide.