Second woman among eight found dead in Ekurhuleni is identified

Itumeleng Kekana has been formally identified, becoming the second of the eight women whose bodies have been found across Ekurhuleni over the past two months to be named.

Kekana, originally from QwaQwa in the Free State, was reported missing on 17 July. Her identification gives her family the confirmation it had been waiting for.

eNCA reported the identification on Wednesday. It is the second formal identification in a case that has been run from the East Rand for two months, and it leaves six of the eight women still to be named.

What the police have said

The South African Police Service has not confirmed that the deaths are connected. That remains the central open question in the investigation, and police have said so directly rather than ruling it in or out.

Senior investigators have been brought in to assist the probe, which is being coordinated across the Ekurhuleni metro after the bodies were recovered at separate sites in the region.

What the identification means for the family

For a family that reported a missing person in July, a formal identification is the end of one search and the start of another. Kekana’s relatives now have a record of what happened to her, and the case moves from missing person to a death under investigation.

Identification work in these cases depends on forensic capacity, on the preservation of evidence at each recovery site, and on families being able to give DNA samples. The fact that two of the eight have now been named is the visible output of that process.

The state’s response

The police have kept a visible presence across the recovery sites and have assigned experienced detectives to the case. No arrests have been announced in connection with the deaths, and no suspect has been named.

Where the police have moved, they have moved on the record: senior investigators seconded, scenes processed, and the identification process run through the relevant forensic services. That is the work that produces the answers families are waiting for, and it is the part of this story that deserves to be reported alongside the losses.

What happens next

The remaining six women have not been formally identified. Police have not said when further identifications are expected, and they have not set a date for an update on whether the cases are linked.

Anyone with information on the disappearances or on the recovery sites is asked to contact the SAPS Crime Stop line on 08600 10111 or their nearest police station. Families with an open missing person case in Ekurhuleni can approach the investigating officer on the file for an update.

Source: eNCA, Ekurhuleni killings: Second victim formally identified