South Africa’s Nine Dead Women and Two Nigerian Victims, Alarm Crisis of Violence, Gender and Fear
The discovery of nine women’s bodies in and around Ekurhuleni, east of Johannesburg, over roughly two months, has renewed concerns about violence against women in South Africa. Five bodies were reportedly found within four days in mid-September, expanding public anxiety and prompting enquiries if the deaths are connected.
Police have not established that a single person or group is responsible. Investigators are examining several possibilities, including a serial killer, multiple perpetrators or unrelated crimes. Similarities reported in some cases, including victims being found partially naked and with signs of physical assault, have heightened concern, but do not by themselves prove a common perpetrator or gender-based motive.
That distinction is important. Not every killing of a woman is necessarily gender-based violence (GBV), and investigators must establish the circumstances, motive and relationship between victims and perpetrators, before individual cases can be classified as femicide or GBV-related. So far, the killings are unfolding against South Africa’s longstanding crisis of violence against women, which research and government institutions have linked to unequal sociopower play relations, patriarchal expectations, economic vulnerability and harmful gender norms.
Picture Credit: Reuters
South Africa’s national research on GBV has identified attitudes surrounding male authority, sexual entitlement and control in relationships as factors that can contribute to violence. Such expectations can also operate within families, homes, where men may be regarded as providers and decision-makers, whereas women are expected to accommodate, care for families and preserve relationships, regardless of the abuse at home.
Also, economic dependence can make leaving abusive relationships, even more difficult. The resultant effect, is a society in which many women are forced to calculate everyday’s risks such as where to walk, when to travel, whether to exercise alone and whom to trust. These are parts of why the Ekurhuleni deaths have resonated so intensely. To most women, the prevailing fear derived from these attacks, is not basically an awareness of a possible serial killer on the loose, but a wider anxiety that an ordinary social activity, can suddenly become dangerous.
Police warnings to avoid isolated places and exercise extreme caution, may provide immediate protection, but they also raise an uncomfortable concern about their civic responsibility to citizens. The burden of preventing violence cannot solely rest with women. The responsibility lies with institutions charged with protecting communities, investigating crimes, securing justice for victims and nabbing perpetrators into incarceration centers.
Culture is part of the discussion too, but it should not be used as a single explanation for South Africa’s gender-based-violence (GBV) crisis. The country is culturally, ethnically and religiously diverse; and many communities strongly reject violence against women. Nevertheless, government and parliamentary research has repeatedly identified patriarchal structures and unequal relationships, as factors that can reinforce GBV. Traditional or religious ideas, can also be interpreted in ways that place men in positions of authority and women in subordinate roles.
The Ekurhuleni killings are also occurring alongside a separate security concern involving Nigerian nationals in South Africa.
Nigeria’s Foreign Ministry has confirmed the deaths of Bishop Taiwo Michael Fakunle and James Uchechukwu Nwankwo. Fakunle was killed at his Johannesburg residence on September 4th, 2026, while Nigerian authorities said Nwankwo died in Cape Town as result of an alleged sessions of police brutal interrogation of him, on September 5th, 2026. The circumstances and responsibility in both cases, remain under investigation.
The Nigerian Consulate in Johannesburg has said the death cases, bring the number of Nigerians killed during the recent wave of anti-migrant violence to more than seven persons. Although, these incidents are distinct from the Ekurhuleni killings, and there is no evidence establishing a connection between them. Nevertheless, these different killings drive a much extensive concerns about public safety and the protection of people living in South Africa, regardless of their gender and nationality. The deaths of the two Nigerians have also placed additional pressure on relations between Abuja and Pretoria, with Nigerian authorities raising trepidations about the safety of their citizens in South Africa.
Therefore, the nine women’s deaths should not be viewed solely through the lens of a possible serial-killer investigation. Even if the cases eventually prove unrelated, South Africa will still face the abysmal challenge of entrenched violence against women. Conversely, if investigators establish that the killings are connected, then another difficult check-mark of how several women become vulnerable, or disappear within the same geographic area and without early detection, will beam a directional-colouration. And to note this checkmark, will require more than warnings and police operations. It will require credible investigations, effective policing, support for families of missing women, stronger community reporting mechanisms and sustained efforts to challenge attitudes that normalise control, sexual entitlement and violence.
At the same time, the deaths of Fakunle and Nwankwo emphasize the need to address the safety of foreign nationals and rising anti-migrant tensions. Though, these two forms of violence should not be conflated. But both cases test the same fundamental responsibility of the state to protect human lives, dignity and properties, regardless of gender or nationality.
