Twelve women killed in one South African region since July
Twelve women have been found dead in South Africa's Ekurhuleni region since July, prompting national concern over violence against women. Police have formed a task team and offered a reward for information.
Since July, twelve bodies of murdered women have been discovered in the Ekurhuleni region near Johannesburg, South Africa, sparking widespread public concern.
The latest case occurred on Monday, when 23-year-old Boitumelo Gift Mashita was shot dead while on her way to work in Tembisa, Ekurhuleni, with her belongings stolen. Police said they suspected her estranged husband was responsible; he was later found dead inside his vehicle in Midrand. Authorities have not established any link between this case and the discovery of the other bodies.
Another body found further away
While most of the bodies were discovered in the same area, police confirmed on 20 September the discovery of another body roughly 63km from Ekurhuleni. The body of a young woman, believed to be in her 20s, was found wrapped in a duvet in a dam in Soweto, south-west of Johannesburg. It remains unclear whether this death is connected to the Ekurhuleni cases.
A nationwide issue
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa described the killings of these and other women as a "stain on our national conscience". The country has one of the world's highest homicide rates, with 5,427 people murdered between April and June this year alone.
While South African police statistics do not break down victims by gender, the South African Human Rights Commission reported last week that 569 women were killed in that same three-month period — an average of six women a day.
Police have established a dedicated task team to investigate the murders and are offering a reward of 400,000 rand (about $24,000; £18,000) for information leading to arrests.
