South Africa charges two women over murder among nine bodies found near Johannesburg

Court appearance and initial charges

South African prosecutors charged two women on Monday, 21 September 2026, in connection with the murder of Jabulile Ntimba in the Ekurhuleni municipality near Johannesburg. The suspects, aged 31 and 38, face charges of murder, defeating the ends of justice, and possession of an unlicensed firearm. A man arrested alongside them was released following an initial court appearance due to insufficient evidence at this stage. Prosecutors from the National Prosecuting Authority stated that both accused women knew Ntimba and were in her company on the night of her death. Deputy Police Chief Tebello Mosikili indicated that preliminary findings point toward an interpersonal dispute, describing the situation as a potential love triangle. The court scheduled a formal bail hearing for both defendants on 1 October 2026.

Pattern of discoveries across Ekurhuleni

Ntimba is the ninth woman found dead across Ekurhuleni over a two-month span, prompting heightened public concern and municipal safety warnings. Her body was discovered on 17 September 2026 in Dawn Park, partially clothed and wrapped in a sheet. Six of the nine victims were recovered within a ten-day span in September 2026 alone, with four found within six kilometres of one another. Many of the women, aged between their twenties and late thirties, were discovered in open roadside terrain, particularly along the R21 highway corridor near Kempton Park. Earlier discoveries included 38-year-old Elizabeth Moselakgomo on 12 September 2026 and 38-year-old Dineo Evelyn Motapane on 15 September 2026 in KwaThema.

Ongoing investigations into potential links

A multidisciplinary police task force is investigating whether any of the remaining unsolved deaths share common perpetrators. Police had previously arrested a boyfriend in connection with the first victim discovered on 15 July 2026, and that suspect remains in custody ahead of a court appearance on 28 October 2026. Authorities noted that while several cases exhibit similarities in how bodies were abandoned, investigators have not established whether a serial killer is responsible for the broader series of deaths. Police leadership stressed that detectives will maintain methodical investigative standards rather than rush to conclusions across the open dockets.

“We are not going to rush these investigations simply to make arrests. We owe it to the victims, we owe it to their families and we owe it to justice: it has to be done properly.”

Government response and broader violence

The series of deaths in Gauteng province follows the government's declaration of gender-based violence as a national emergency in 2025. In response to the Ekurhuleni murders, President Cyril Ramaphosa stated that state agencies would expand forensic and technological support for investigators tracking violent offenders.

“We will spare no effort to find these perpetrators.”

The president promised additional funding, personnel, and technological resources to improve public safety for women nationwide. Additional investigations into violent crimes against women continue across the country, including the discovery on Sunday of a woman's body wrapped in a duvet near a dam in Soweto and ongoing court proceedings against two suspected serial rapists in KwaZulu-Natal.