High-level delegation to meet over deaths of seven women in Gauteng

A high-level government delegation is expected to meet with senior South African Police Service (SAPS) management and investigators on Tuesday evening following the deaths of seven women whose bodies were discovered in and around Ekurhuleni over the past three months.

The meeting will be led by Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia, Minister of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities Sindisiwe Chikunga, Deputy Police Minister Dr Polly Boshielo, Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi and Acting National Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Puleng Dimpane.

The delegation will receive a briefing on the progress of the investigations, the evidence gathered so far and the deployment of multidisciplinary investigative and forensic resources.

READ MORE: Seven women’s bodies confirmed found in Gauteng, as police widen probe

High delegation meeting to address the deaths

The meeting is scheduled to take place at the SAPS Gauteng Provincial Office in Parktown on Tuesday evening.

The deaths have raised concern across the East Rand after several women were found dead in public areas in recent weeks. Police are investigating whether the cases are connected, but have not established whether they were committed by one person, several suspects or whether any of the cases are unrelated.

According to police, the victims were found naked, while investigators have reported indications of sexual violence in some cases.

Police have not announced a motive.

One of the victims was identified as 38-year-old Elizabeth ‘Tsontso’ Moselakgomo, who went missing after leaving home for an afternoon run in Kempton Park. Her body was later found partially clothed.

ALSO READ: Tsontso, the glue that held her family together, says uncle

Another body in kwaThema

A further body was found in Olifantsfontein on Monday, while another was discovered in Kwa-Thema, Springs, on Tuesday. The Kwa-Thema victim was found naked and in an advanced state of decomposition.

Earlier reports had placed the number of women whose bodies had been found in the Ekurhuleni area at six. By Tuesday, however, the police clarified that it was seven as another body that was discovered floating in a river in Tembisa was discovered.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has since directed law-enforcement agencies to prioritise the investigations and said that those responsible must be brought to justice. Police have appealed to members of the public to provide information that could assist investigators.

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