In recent weeks, nine women have been murdered in the same part of South Africa’s largest city, with most of them also sexually assaulted. The police have not ruled out a serial killer, and their advice to women to stay “vigilant” and avoid walking or running alone has drawn sharp criticism from people who argue the responsibility should lie with the police, not with the public.
The Death of Elizabeth Moselakgomo
Elizabeth Moselakgomo, a 38-year-old manager and mother, went out for her usual afternoon jog in her neighborhood near the Johannesburg airport last week and never returned. Her 8-year-old daughter called relatives, who contacted the police. Five days later, Moselakgomo’s half-naked body was found in the area, with her face so badly beaten it was unrecognizable.
The Scale of the Problem
South Africa is already home to some of the world’s highest rates of violence against women. Police figures reveal that more than 100 rape cases are reported every day, while some 15 women are killed each day. A recent wave of attacks has seen nine women found dead in just a few weeks in the same suburb of Johannesburg.
The killings have left South Africans shocked, angry and afraid.
What Police Have Said
Police have not ruled out a serial killer. They have warned women to be “vigilant” and not to walk or run alone. That approach is drawing backlash from women on social media who say the onus should be on the police to protect them, not for them to have to curtail their movements.
“Women in South Africa continue to be hunted and denied the most basic right to life and security.”
The Government Response
President Cyril Ramaphosa has promised “no stone will be left unturned” in the hunt for the perpetrator or perpetrators. But many South Africans say the government — which declared gender-based violence and femicide a national disaster in 2025 — has not done enough to keep women and girls safe.
The director of Amnesty International’s South Africa office, Shenilla Mohamed, stated her position plainly.
“Women are tired of platitudes. We want to know what is going to be done to make women and children feel safe.”
Protests and Running Clubs
Women in South Africa have taken to the streets after a series of killings. Protests have broken out in Kempton Park, where many of the murders took place, and in Cape Town. The demonstrators are making their message clear: they will not stand for it any longer.
Across the nation, many local running clubs have organized runs to honor Moselakgomo and remember all the victims. One such gathering took place in Johannesburg, where men and women of all ages and races dressed in black and observed a minute’s silence before beginning their run.
Why Women Feel Unsafe
The women NPR interviewed at the gathering reported feeling unsafe in South Africa without exception.
“Gender-based violence, but particularly femicide, is such a big issue in South Africa. As a woman you can’t do anything alone,” one of the runners, 26-year-old Shari Maluluke, told NPR.
“You jog, you can get killed, you go to the post office, you can get killed, in your homes you can get killed…It just makes me angry that I can’t move freely, my whole country feels like a prison.”
What Women Are Doing
A routine of precautions is how the women NPR spoke to describe what they do.
The measures women must observe were described by “You send your location, you share your Ubers,” who was speaking about 31-year-old Didi Tsitsi.
When asked to explain why femicide has become so much of an issue in South Africa, Tsitsi pointed to several contributing causes:
- Failure of government and policing
- A deep-rooted societal issue of what men are brought up to be and what they believe it is to be a man
- Legacies of apartheid, which she said is one way it manifests
The Societal Roots
A number of studies back up this notion, pointing to decades of harsh rule by a white minority as the root cause. During that time, Black men were stripped of their power and independence, which researchers say has produced a deep crisis in how masculinity is understood today, along with the persistence of patriarchal thinking.
Source material: “South Africa 'feels like a prison' for women amid spate of femicides,” NPR.
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