SAPS opens fifth Ekurhuleni docket as body found near Olifantsfontein

SABC News reports that a fifth body has been found in Olifantsfontein, Ekurhuleni, after a passer-by alerted a local security company, which then called the police. The body was found on Monday morning, half naked, next to the road.

Brigadier Athlenda Mathe, speaking for the South African Police Service, said the body was discovered on the side of the road and had been declared deceased. She said the scene was fresh and it appeared the body had been dumped there between last night and the early hours of this morning.

“There was a passer-by that was going to work this morning that alerted a local security company and the security company then alerted the police,” she said. The woman has not yet been identified.

Four other bodies found since July

The discovery follows four other cases in the same area. On 15 July, the body of a 37-year-old woman was found near the R21, naked and restrained with cable ties. On 24 August, the body of a 32-year-old woman was found. On 10 September, a body was found naked and in an advanced stage of decomposition, and its identification is still under way.

On Saturday, the body of a 30-year-old woman was found behind a hotel in Rosefield. Mathe said two of the four women have not been identified, and one body was badly decomposed, which has made identification difficult.

She said the similarities between the cases are a serious concern. All five bodies were found either naked or partially clothed.

A dedicated team and a question of linkage

Acting national commissioner Lieutenant General Puland Dean established a multi-disciplinary team to investigate. It is led by Major General Busisiwe Kumalo and reports to acting provincial commissioner Major General Fred Kekana. The team includes detectives, the investigative psychology section and criminologists, and is already on the scene.

Mathe said the priority is to establish whether the latest body is linked to the cases reported in the Kempton Park area.

“We will rely obviously on the evidence,” she said. “I’m not an expert so I cannot say at this point it is a serial killer.” She said the team will compare the dockets and the evidence gathered at each scene to determine whether the cases are linked, and that police are not rushing the investigation.

One arrest has been made in connection with the first body, and that person remains in custody.

Community frustration outside Kempton Park police station

Residents protested outside the Kempton Park police station on Monday morning, saying police did not alert the community early enough. They argued that the warning should have come after the first, second or third body was found, not after the fourth.

Mathe rejected the suggestion of a delay. She said that when the first body was discovered in July, an arrest was made and communication was sent out. She said the alert to the public was issued once the similarities between the cases warranted it.

“We are not rushing to say there is a serial killer but the similarities in all these crime scenes and cases it does warrant us to really send an alert to members of the public,” she said.

What police are asking of the public

Mathe urged anyone who has reported a missing person to contact Olifantsfontein police station, Kempton Park police station or their nearest station, to help identify the women.

She also urged women in the area to be extra vigilant, to report suspicious activity and to exercise in groups rather than alone while investigations continue. She said the precautionary measures are not meant to restrict women’s movement.

Mathe pointed to the police service’s broader record on gender-based violence and femicide. She said more than 18,000 suspects were arrested and more than 100 firearms seized in the past week through Operation Shanela. In the first quarter, between April and June, 648 perpetrators of gender-based violence and femicide were convicted and 98 life sentences were handed down.

The acting provincial commissioner is expected to visit the scene on Monday afternoon and meet the investigation team.

Source: SABC News (YouTube). Read the original item.