Police search for family of unidentified woman amid Ekurhuleni deaths

Police have confirmed that they are still trying to locate the family of an unidentified woman whose body was found floating in a river in Clayville, near the Mall of Tembisa, on September 7.

Police are still trying to locate the family of an unidentified woman whose body was found floating in a river in Clayville, near the Mall of Tembisa, on September 7.

Deputy national police commissioner Lieutenant General Tebello Mosikili said the woman was found wearing only her underwear.

Mosikili was speaking outside the Boksburg Magistrate’s Court on Monday, where two women appeared in connection with the murder of Jabulile Ntimba , the ninth woman found dead in a string of killings that has sent shockwaves through communities across Ekurhuleni.

Police have released the identities of several of the victims, while efforts are continuing to identify the remaining bodies and establish whether the cases are linked.

Fortunate Masilela and Tsakane Nester Msithini appeared in the Boksburg Magistrate’s Court on Monday after being arrested over the weekend by the Gauteng Murder and Robbery Unit.

They face charges of premeditated murder and defeating the ends of justice in connection with Ntimba’s death.

Ntimba, believed to have been about 30, was found on September 17 in an open area on Lama Street in Villa Lisa, Dawn Park. She was partially clothed and had suffered a fatal throat injury.

The two accused were remanded in custody and are expected to apply for bail on October 1.

As they face a Schedule 6 offence, they will have to satisfy the court that exceptional circumstances exist for them to be released on bail.

Police confirmed that a man who was arrested alongside the two women has since been released and has not been charged.

Mosikili said the man was still being investigated and that police were following up on possible links to Ntimba’s murder.

Ntimba’s death brought to nine the number of women whose bodies have been found in Ekurhuleni and surrounding areas over about two months.

Busisiwe Mahlangu, 37 , was found on July 15 in a field in Kempton Park. She was naked and her hands were bound with cable ties. A suspect was arrested two days later. Her cause of death has not been publicly disclosed.