NewzThe possibility that more than one killer could be responsible for the deaths of five women found around Kempton Park has emerged as investigators pull apart a series of murders that initially raised fears of a serial killer operating in the area. The latest body was discovered near the R21, closer to Olifantsfontein, on Monday morning, while police have confirmed that a suspect arrested in connection with the first woman’s murder in July remains behind bars. Sources close to the investigation said police are examining whether the deaths could involve different perpetrators rather than a single person hunting women.
It comes as the family of missing runner Elizabeth Tsonstso Moselakgom, 38, confirmed on Monday that the body found in Kempton Park on Saturday had been positively identified as hers. Not enough evidence for serial killer theory A person close to the investigation said the Kempton Park station commander told a closed meeting on Monday that police do not, at this moment, believe there is sufficient evidence to conclude that a serial killer is responsible. The commander reportedly told the meeting that the cases did not all share the same modus operandi.
Other individuals close to the investigation said differences between the deaths, despite the victims all being women and several bodies being discovered around the R21 and surrounding Kempton Park area, have complicated attempts to establish a common thread. Sources said the station commander told Monday’s meeting that six murders had been recorded in Kempton Park over the past two months, but indicated at least two involved male foreign nationals and were believed to be unrelated to the deaths of the women. The deaths have nevertheless forced police to revisit earlier cases.
Sources said the commander described the latest investigation as a “wake-up call” which prompted detectives to go back through previous murders to determine whether connections had been missed. Acting National Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Puleng Dimpane on Monday confirmed that a multidisciplinary team of detectives and specialised policing resources had been ordered to intensify investigations. Police said the team was examining the circumstances surrounding each death, analysing evidence and attempting to establish possible links.
Dimpane vowed that police would pursue whoever was respo… South Africans in the public eye are adding their voices, and in some cases, their fury, to the growing panic over a string of women’s deaths in and around Kempton Park. Their input comes as police confirmed on Monday that a fifth body had been discovered in nearby Olifantsfontein.
Author and social activist Jackie Phamotse was among the first high-profile voices to sound the alarm, posting on X on Saturday after the fourth body was found. She told her followers she believed there was “possibly a serial killer” operating in the area, arguing that police needed to be more transparent with the public and warning that whoever is responsible is growing bolder. There is possibly a serial killer in the Kempton Park area.
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