Police link nine Ekurhuleni deaths as ninth woman found in Dawn Park

A ninth woman’s body has been found in Ekurhuleni, this time in Dawn Park, two months after the first of the bodies was recovered in the metro.

The woman, believed to be in her twenties, was found on Thursday morning. She was still wearing a top, bra and panties but had no trousers or dress, and she had a stab wound and what appeared to be a slit throat. Police are still working to identify her.

Gauteng Acting Provincial Commissioner Major-General Fred Kekana said early information pointed to the woman having been killed somewhere else and her body left in Dawn Park.

“For now she is unknown,” Kekana said at the scene, where forensic investigators were working to establish her identity and the cause of her death.

The discovery brings to nine the number of women’s bodies recovered across Ekurhuleni in the past two months. A multidisciplinary team is now working across the cases.

Biometrics used to name the dead

Deputy National Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Tebello Mosikili said police were working with the Department of Home Affairs and other state security agencies, following leads and examining whether the deaths are linked.

Identifying the victims is central to the investigation. Police are using fingerprints, biometric records and other forensic evidence to put names to the women.

A suspect arrested after the first body was found remains in custody. He appeared in court on Wednesday and was remanded, and he is being held at Modderbee.

“We are meeting as departments, so we want to get the fingerprints from the prison to check so that we can confirm the nationality,” Mosikili said.

She said police had been told the man is not South African, but that his country of origin had not been established. Home Affairs officials were being brought in to confirm it. Intelligence agencies are also being drawn into the investigation, with Mosikili saying she had spoken to state security colleagues to gather what they hold on the man and to trace how far back his movements go and whether he can be linked to other bodies.

She urged the public not to draw conclusions before the facts are established. “We don’t want any speculation,” she said.

Dawn Park family waits for answers

The discovery has raised the question of whether the Dawn Park woman is Tebello, who her family last saw on Monday.

Her brother said he saw her on Monday afternoon, September 14, when she left to visit her boyfriend. A friend, Thuli, went to help with identification, but police have not confirmed that the body is Tebello’s. The family wants investigators to question the boyfriend.

Her brother said he had not been shown the body and could not accept that it was his sister. “It’s difficult. I don’t believe that’s Tebello lying there,” he said. “If maybe I can see her face, I would believe it.”

Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi said the province would throw every resource it has at the cases. “Someone, or some people, have declared war. We have to respond to it,” he said. “We’re not going to surrender.”

Lesufi said investigators would use evidence including CCTV footage and other technology to establish what happened to the women.

Kekana warned against old and unrelated photographs of women’s bodies being shared on social media. He said the circulation of those images was feeding fear and could create further problems for the investigation.

Police have asked anyone with information that could help to contact Crime Stop on 08600 10111 or use the MySAPS app.

The nine cases are being handled by a joint team, and the identification of the victims through Home Affairs records is the thread that will decide whether they are treated as one investigation or several. The suspect in Modderbee is next due to appear in court on a date set by the court, and the fingerprint check with Home Affairs is expected to confirm his nationality.

Source: IOL, Ninth woman’s body found in Dawn Park as police probe possible links