Police are now investigating the murders of eight women across Ekurhuleni, Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia confirmed on Tuesday night.

The widening probe began after police found a cluster of women dead in and around Kempton Park before investigators expanded their focus to other parts of the metro.

“The discovery of the bodies of eight young women who have been murdered is deeply distressing for all of us,” Cachalia said.

Authorities have not yet released details about the eighth woman, including where police found her or whether investigators have identified her.

High-level team takes charge

Cachalia said SAPS had established a high-level multidisciplinary team, led by the deputy provincial commissioner, to drive the investigation.

He vowed that police would pursue every lead.

“We will leave no stone unturned to bring the culprits to book,” he said.

Cachalia said SAPS had the experience and specialist expertise needed to investigate the killings and promised the political leadership would ensure investigators received the necessary support.

Police have not confirmed that one person or group killed all eight women. Investigators continue analysing each case to determine whether links exist.

Probe grew from four women to eight

The investigation has expanded rapidly since police initially began examining the deaths of four women found in Kempton Park between July and September.

As The South African previously reported, police released details of those four cases and confirmed an arrest in connection with the first woman’s murder. SAPS did not link that suspect to the other deaths.

A fifth woman was then found dead in Olifantsfontein on Monday, prompting police to widen the investigation.

On Tuesday morning, officers found another woman dead in KwaThema, Springs, roughly 45km from Kempton Park. Police did not immediately link that discovery to the earlier cases.

Later on Tuesday, Acting Gauteng Police Commissioner Major-General Fred Kekana confirmed that investigators had also added the case of an unidentified woman found floating in a river in Clayville, near the Mall of Thembisa, to the wider probe.

Cachalia’s evening announcement has now taken the number of murdered women under investigation to eight.

Four women sexually assaulted

The investigation has also produced disturbing forensic findings.

Police earlier confirmed that four of the first five women were sexually assaulted, while investigators continued examining possible links between the cases.

SAPS has repeatedly cautioned against drawing conclusions about whether one perpetrator, several perpetrators or separate crimes are involved before forensic evidence establishes a connection.

National police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said investigators were analysing evidence and victim profiles while specialist personnel joined the multidisciplinary team.

Elizabeth Moselakgomo among identified women

One of the women formally identified was 38-year-old Elizabeth “Tsontso” Moselakgomo, who disappeared after leaving her Rhodesfield home for a run.

Her family later identified her body at the Germiston mortuary.

Her death prompted Athletics South Africa to call for women to be able to run, walk and exercise without fearing for their safety.

Gauteng Health also appealed to families of missing women to come forward as forensic teams worked to identify several of the bodies.

‘Women are unsafe’

Cachalia said the murders exposed the scale of violence facing women in South Africa.

He described the thought of a woman leaving home for something as ordinary as a run and never returning as “too unbearable to think about”.

“The deaths of eight young women, in these circumstances, is a reminder to us all that we live in a society in which … our mothers, our sisters, our daughters, our children are unsafe,” Cachalia said.

He called on South Africans to reflect on the country’s levels of murder, rape, domestic violence and gender-based violence.