Bongani Mdakane | Kempton Park killings: Families deserve answers, not excuses

Eight women are dead. Eight lives extinguished. Eight families plunged into grief. Eight futures stolen.

And while the South African Police Service (SAPS) investigates, a community in Kempton Park is left confronting a terrifying possibility that a predator may be operating among them.

That possibility cannot simply be brushed aside. It must be investigated with the urgency it deserves.

READ: Mother’s anxiety over missing daughter heightens as bodies pile up in East Rand

Nobody is asking SAPS to prematurely declare that Ekurhuleni has a serial killer. Nobody is asking investigators to abandon evidence, due process or the presumption of innocence. But South Africans have every right to demand that investigators aggressively test every possibility, including whether some of these deaths are connected.

Eight dead women cannot simply be filed away as seven separate tragedies until proven otherwise.

These were not numbers on a police spreadsheet. They were mothers, daughters, sisters, partners and friends. They had families waiting for them, dreams they had not fulfilled and futures that were brutally taken away.

A routine run that ended in tragedy

Elizabeth “Tsontso” Moselakgomo was reportedly out on a routine run when she disappeared. A routine run which is something millions of people do without thinking twice.

But Moselakgomo did not return home. Her eight-year-old daughter was left waiting for a mother who would never walk through the door again. That is the human cost behind the statistics and as it stands, this cannot be treated as business as usual.

Women cannot be expected to live in fear

The burden of preventing violence cannot continually be dumped on the very people who are most vulnerable to it.

The state has a responsibility to protect citizens, and SAPS must now demonstrate that it is treating these deaths with the seriousness they demand.

Investigators must go through these cases with a forensic comb to establish every possible connection. Every detail must be examined and no potential link dismissed prematurely.

Crucially, the police must look backwards before another woman disappears.

SAPS has the tools, now it needs results

SAPS has reportedly assembled a multidisciplinary team involving detectives, forensic experts, tracking teams, K9 units and investigative psychology specialists.

That is a welcome decision because this is precisely the kind of comprehensive investigation these deaths demand.

But South Africans have heard assurances before.

The public does not need another carefully crafted statement saying investigations are continuing. Families need answers. Communities need protection.

If there is a common perpetrator, that person must be identified and brought before the courts. If the cases are unrelated, the evidence must establish that. If investigators uncover a pattern, they must have the courage to confront it.

There is a profound difference between refusing to jump to conclusions and refusing to investigate an obvious possibility. SAPS must not confuse the two.

The next victim cannot become the missing piece

The next victim cannot become the evidence that finally convinces authorities that there was a pattern.

That would be an unforgivable failure.

South Africa has become dangerously accustomed to the ritual of women being murdered, families mourning, officials expressing outrage and investigations continuing until public attention moves elsewhere. That cycle must end.

The families of these eight women deserve more than condolences. They deserve the truth about what happened to their loved ones. They deserve justice. And they deserve the assurance that whoever is responsible will not be allowed to claim another victim.

Kempton Park cannot be left waiting for another body

Women should not have to calculate the risk of going for a run, walking home or simply existing in their own communities.

READ: Mbalenhle Zuma | Five women’s bodies remind me why I stopped jogging

Moselakgomo deserved to return home. Her daughter deserved to have her mother. The families of the other women deserved more time with their loved ones.

And every woman in Kempton Park and everywhere else in South Africa deserves to live without wondering whether she could be next.

Eight women are already dead. SAPS must ensure that the next body does not become the evidence that finally makes everyone act.

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