By: Motshabi Hoaeane
The discovery of the bodies of eight women in and around Ekurhuleni has sparked renewed public outrage and intensified calls for government and law enforcement agencies to strengthen their response to violence against women.
The deaths, which have been reported over the past two months in areas including Kempton Park, Rhodesfield, Olifantsfontein, KwaThema,Clayville and Tembisa have prompted police to launch intensified investigations into whether some of the cases may be connected. Authorities have not yet established whether the deaths were committed by one perpetrator, multiple perpetrators or whether the cases are linked.
The body of 38-year-old Elizabeth “Tsontso” Moselakgomo, who went missing after leaving her Rhodesfield home for a run, was among those identified. SAPS said a multidisciplinary team had been established to investigate the deaths and establish possible links between the cases.
Speaking to SABC News during an in-studio interview, GBV activist & founder of the Kwanele Foundation, Sihle Sibisi, criticised what she described as the government’s “viral-first” response to the killing of women in South Africa.
Sibisi said the vulnerability of women in the country had become increasingly difficult to ignore, arguing that government action often follows public outrage rather than preventing violence against women.
“We are dealing with a reactive government that will only want to be heard and seen to be doing something when someone’s life has been made viral, and someone’s life that is no longer there,” she said.
“If it’s not viral, our government won’t react.”
Her comments follow statements from SAPS, after the discovery of the bodies of murdered women in Ekurhuleni, including five bodies found in the Kempton Park area, specifically around Rhodesfield and Elandsfontein, and another in Kwa-Thema. She lamented that police do an injustice to communities where these crimes are happening by not alerting them sooner.
“The fact that our government comes to the party when someone has been unalived to me is so distasteful and hurtful.” Sibisi highlighted the plight of women in the country the ernoumous fear that they had to live with doing daily activities.
“Now that this is happenning you will see all these political parties coming out saying we are against this and against that.”
She said women in South Africa needed to do more shutdowns until government wakes up, because government’s approach is one that is reactionary and led mostly through talk-shops and not enough implementation, even despite there being a GBV commitee that is meant to deal with such cases.
In a separate interview, Ian Cameron, chairperson of Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Police, said South Africa records at least 60 murders a day, with more than 13% of victims being women and children.
“From a parliamentary point of view, the big frustration that we face is the lack of feedback and action on the recommendations that we make,” Cameron said.
certain trend, but I can tell you that women are under threat nationally every single day.”
Calls for death penalty on X for heinous crimes
The latest killings have also fuelled calls on social media for tougher punishment for perpetrators, including renewed demands for the restoration of the death penalty.
The African Transformation Movement (ATM) was among the political parties calling for tougher measures. In a statement, the party said women should not be forced to change how they live, where they walk or how they move because of violent criminals.
“These killings reinforce the ATM’s long-standing position that South Africa must restore the death penalty for the most heinous crimes,” the party said.
The calls form part of a broader public debate over how South Africa should respond to gender-based violence and femicide, including questions around policing, prevention, investigations, prosecution and the implementation of existing government interventions.
On the side of the death penalty:
Against the death penalty:
As investigations into the Ekurhuleni deaths continue, police have appealed to members of the public with information about the cases to come forward.
Sources: SABC News, X, EWN.
