South Africa finds 11th femicide victim near Johannesburg since July

South African police have located the body of an eleventh woman east of Johannesburg. This discovery brings a grim tally to eleven female bodies found near the city since mid-July. The nation faces one of the highest femicide rates globally.

Brigadier Brenda Muridili, a police spokeswoman, stated that a security company vehicle patrolling the area spotted the remains at about midday local time on Sunday in an open field within the Ekurhuleni municipality. She noted that the patrol alerted authorities immediately. Details regarding the victim's identity, age, or cause of death were not available right away.

The latest find follows a discovery just one day earlier. On Saturday, police found the body of a semi-naked woman near a cemetery in the same municipality. These events have fueled growing concern over violence against women in a country long plagued by violent crime. While investigators work to link these cases, communities fear a single killer or killers are at large.

Provincial police chief Tommy Mthombeni told state broadcaster SABC that the woman found on Saturday appeared to have been stoned to death. He said a post-mortem examination is pending to confirm the cause of death. Meanwhile, police arrested a man linked to one killing almost 400km away. This arrest raises the number of people in custody for this series of murders to four.

President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed the recovery of what he called the tenth victim while campaigning for upcoming local elections. He spoke on Saturday after broadcaster eNCA reported his comments. "I've sadly heard about 10th body of a woman found in Thembisa," Ramaphosa said. "This continues to make us very sad, and in many ways, it's a shame on the men of South Africa that we continue to kill the women of our beautiful country."

South Africa sees an average of fifteen women killed per day according to available data. Two women have already been charged with murdering the victim whose body was the ninth discovered on September 17. Police suggested that killing may have stemmed from a relationship-related matter. Mthombeni told SABC that investigators believe the ninth killing was likely an isolated case, though he admitted some other murders might be connected because they shared similarities. There is currently no conclusive evidence pointing to one specific person or group responsible for all deaths.

Police discovered three bodies in July and August within 6km of each other in Ekurhuleni. Earlier this month, six bodies appeared in just ten days, also in Ekurhuleni. Before Saturday's discovery, all deceased women were in their twenties or thirties. Several were found completely or partially naked. The very first body, discovered in mid-July, was found naked and restrained with cable ties. The victim's boyfriend was arrested following that finding but no charges were filed against him.