Protesters demand answers over Ekurhuleni women’s deaths

About 200 March and March protesters gathered in Kempton Park on Thursday demanding answers to questions concerning the deaths of women whose bodies have been found in Ekurhuleni over the past two months.

The protesters said they wanted police and the government to do more to investigate the killings and to protect women.

Musa Hlongwa, president of the anti-illegal immigrant organisation United SA, was part of the protest, which was also joined by the Operation Dudula organisation.

Hlongwa said her group had decided to join the protest because of concerns about the safety of women and what she described as a lack of action by police.

“We are here because it has come to our attention that the South African Police Service will not do anything to protect South Africans, let alone women,” she said.

She questioned whether the government had a plan to protect women and deal with the deaths.

One woman protester raised her frustrations to police officials monitoring the protest. “We put our trust in you women and men in the blue uniform, but you fail us time and time again. Who must protect us,” she asked.

Acting Gauteng police commissioner Maj-Gen Fred Kekana said a ninth woman’s body had been discovered in Boksburg on Thursday morning.

Hlongwa raised concerns about undocumented people in the country. She said South Africans should be able to know who entered the country, and that authorities should ensure everyone who entered the country was properly accounted for.

Hlongwa said the deaths were devastating for families, particularly children waiting for their mothers to return home. “You can imagine the child that was waiting for their mother to come, who never came.”

She further called on police to investigate the cases and identify those responsible, saying South Africans needed to put aside political differences and unite around the issue of safety.

“We need to unite, we are numbers, these people cannot outnumber us,” she said.

The protesters said they would continue raising concerns about the safety of women and demanding accountability from authorities.

Deputy police commissioner Lt-Gen Tebello Mosikili told the protesters and communities to work with the police and report on anything they hear. “We promise that arrests will be made and the families of the women, and the community, will get justice.”