From feeling safe to living in fear in their home

By Nomahlubi Charlie

TW: This article touches on themes of gender-based violence

Between 2023 and 2024, 3, 485 women were murdered in South Africa. Between 2024 and 2025, there were no official disaggregated data that showed how many women were murdered during that period. If a country as a whole does not know how many women were murdered, it would not know whether the effort to combat GBVF is working.  The discovery of the bodies of women who were murdered in Kempton Park raised so much fear amongst women in South Africa. The more bodies that are found, the more women feel like their freedom is being taken away bit by bit. 

         An image of the police surrounding an area where a body was found- via BBC

Over the years, women have constantly dealt with hearing that their choice of clothing is a reason for their abuse. Elizabeth ‘Tsontso’ Moselakgomo’s case is living proof that it is not about the clothes that women wear. She was found lifeless behind a hotel in Kempton Park on September 12, 2026. The discovery has sparked national fear and outrage. “We are scared to come out of our houses. We are scared to go to the shops. We are no longer free where we are supposed to be safe as women,” resident Bongeka Sebela told the BBC. In the span of two weeks, 10 female bodies were found across Ekurhuleni. South African women did not take this lightly and felt the need to make their voices heard through marches and wearing black to mourn the lives of the women. South African women have consistently stood up for women across the country, even though they often face backlash from men. 

In September 2026, three suspects, one man and two women, were arrested by the Gauteng Murder and Robbery Unit in connection with the murder of one of the several women whose bodies were discovered in Ekurhuleni. Deputy National Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Tebello Mosikili said that the third suspect has been released after the 48-hour protocol to charge him expired without enough evidence to link him to the murder. Mosikili also stated that if new evidence connects him to the murder, the suspect would be arrested, as he remained a suspect. The two remaining suspects, Tsakane Nester Msithini and Fortunate Masilela, remained in custody on charges of premeditated murder.

An image of the two women appearing in Boksburg Magistrate Court – via Daily Maverick

South African women seemed to express deep disappointment at the two women who are connected to the Kempton Park killings. They believed that, as women, we should protect each other rather than kill each other, because living as women is already difficult enough. The women who were murdered this year were just living their normal lives, doing their normal daily routine. It was never about what they were wearing, their attitude, or whether or not they were walking at night. They were just human.

Edited by Erin Arends