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Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi has vowed that authorities will fight back after another woman was found dead in Ekurhuleni, bringing the number of women whose bodies have been discovered in the area over the past two months to nine.
The latest victim, a 30-year-old woman, was found half-naked and wrapped in a sheet beside a road in Dawn Park on Thursday.
Investigators are yet to establish her identity and are working to determine the circumstances surrounding her death.
The discovery comes after the bodies of eight other women were found at different locations across Ekurhuleni over the past two months.
Lesufi said the authorities would not back down, describing the deaths as a declaration of war against the state and promising a strong response.
“Someone has declared war against us, and we will push back,” Lesufi said.
“I have full confidence in the team. South Africans must know, someone has declared war against us, we will push back. We’re not going to surrender. They have declared war, and we have to return it. The state has the capacity.”
He expressed confidence in the multidisciplinary task team handling the investigation, saying the team had been working continuously and had already gathered evidence.
According to Lesufi, investigators were providing authorities with regular updates on their findings as they worked to establish what happened.
He also said the team had previously solved major cases and would be able to make progress in the latest investigation, but urged the public to allow officers the time and space needed to gather evidence.
“The groundwork has been done. No one must have doubts that we’re picking up bodies and there is no work being done. The team is working around the clock, and they are briefing us hourly and indicating the evidence they have,” he said.
“They have cracked many big cases before, and I have no doubt that they will break this case. But we must give them space to gather evidence. I have full, full confidence in them,” he added.
Meanwhile, Gauteng acting police commissioner Fred Kekana said investigators had received a significant amount of information that could help advance the case.
He said police teams were following up on every piece of information provided to them.
Kekana also appealed to members of the public to stop circulating old images of bodies on social media, warning that the practice was creating unnecessary panic.
