MALAIKA MAHLATSI | GBV is out of control but death penalty not the answer - EWN

There are no words to describe the depths of fear and panic that have gripped women across the Gauteng Province. On the 9th of September 2026, Elizabeth "Tsontso" Moselakgomo went missing while out for a routine run. When she didn't return home, her 8-year-old daughter raised the alarm. By the following day, there were posters all over social media and they were being shared widely.

I came across it in Germany, shared by a close friend in New York. But three days later, the search ended in absolute tragedy when a woman's body was discovered near the R21 in Rhodesfield, and on the 14th of September, it was positively identified as that of Moselakgomo. Her murder opened a can of worms that the South African Police Service (SAPS) hadn't taken the public into confidence about: Moselakgomo was not the only woman who had been a victim of homicide recently.

On Tuesday evening, the Acting Police Minister, Firoz Cachalia, confirmed that the number of women’s bodies discovered in Ekurhuleni over the last two months stood at eight.