▲ Police investigate the scene where the body of a woman was found in the KwaThema area of Ekurhuleni, South Africa, on September 15 (local time).
Authorities in South Africa are on high alert after the bodies of women, believed to be victims of crime, were discovered successively over the past two months in the city of Ekurhuleni (commonly known as the Eastland), adjacent to the country's largest city, Johannesburg.
President Cyril Ramaphosa declared the incidents a "national crisis" and promised a thorough response.
Having established a dedicated investigation team, police announced a reward of 400,000 rand (approximately 30 million KRW) for information leading to the arrest of the perpetrator. They also plan to intensively deploy police forces to Kempton Park and surrounding areas where a large number of victims were found, effectively placing the area under lockdown.
According to local daily the Daily Maverick and other reports on September 16 (local time), Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia detailed the investigation status during a briefing late the previous night.
Following the discovery of a woman's body stripped of clothing and bound with cable ties in a vacant lot near the R21 highway in Kempton Park on July 15, a total of eight women's bodies have been found in Ekurhuleni up until the previous day.
Police initially counted seven victims, but corrected the total to eight after confirming an additional body of a woman found in the Olifantsfontein area on September 7.
Among them, only two have been positively identified so far, but most are estimated to be women in their 20s and 30s, and their clothing was partially or fully stripped when discovered.
The locations where the victims were found span across Kempton Park, Clayville, Olifantsfontein, Rosefield, and KwaThema.
The South African government held an emergency meeting attended by the Minister for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, the Minister of Social Development, the Premier of Gauteng province—where Ekurhuleni is located—and the Acting National Police Commissioner to devise countermeasures.
Acting Minister Cachalia stated that large-scale police personnel will be deployed to Kempton Park and surrounding areas under "Operation Shanela" (a crackdown operation) to "lock down this area for several weeks," adding, "We will mobilize all necessary law enforcement personnel and cooperate with the local community."
Regarding Elizabeth Moselakgomo, who went out jogging last weekend and was found dead on September 14, he said, "It is hard to even imagine that someone who went out for a run does not return home. We must reflect on what it means to live in a society plagued by violence against women, high murder rates, rape, and domestic violence."
"This is the challenge we face," he added.
Meanwhile, the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in South Africa issued a safety notice regarding the incidents, advising Korean nationals to avoid going out at night, walking alone, and visiting high-crime or secluded areas, as well as to always carry identification in preparation for heightened police inspections and searches.
(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
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