CGE: Urgent CGE Gauteng Women Safety Audit Call After 7 Deaths

• The Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) has called for an urgent safety audit in Gauteng after seven women's bodies were discovered in two months.
• The latest discoveries on September 15, 2026, included two women's bodies found in a river and on a roadside in Gauteng, bringing the total to seven in areas like Kempton Park and along the R21 highway.
• The CGE demands a comprehensive audit involving SAPS, municipalities, and transport authorities to assess factors like lighting, surveillance, and police visibility.
• CGE spokesperson Javu Baloyi stated that a society where women must restrict their movement to feel safe does not uphold substantive equality.
• The Department of Social Development condemned the violence, emphasizing that gender-based violence is a societal emergency requiring a collective response.

A society forcing women to avoid certain roads, cease outdoor exercise, alter work hours, travel solely in groups, or constantly share their location to feel secure, fundamentally fails to provide substantive equality.

The Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) has issued an urgent call for enhanced safety measures in Gauteng, following the discovery of seven women's bodies across the province over the past two months. These tragic findings have concentrated around Kempton Park, Olifantsfontein, and areas adjacent to the R21 highway, highlighting a critical need for intervention to protect women in public spaces.

The most recent discoveries occurred on Tuesday, September 15, 2026. Police located the partially decomposed and partially naked body of a woman in a Gauteng river. Earlier the same day, another woman's body was found on the side of a road in KwaThema, Springs; this victim was fully naked and in an advanced state of decomposition. These two incidents brought the total number of bodies found in the specified areas to seven within a two-month period.

Among the victims identified is Elizabeth Moselakgomo, a runner whose body was confirmed on the Monday preceding the latest discoveries. The escalating number of fatalities has underscored the precariousness of women's safety in the region, prompting the CGE's strong advocacy for immediate action to address the underlying risks.

In response to the escalating crisis, the Commission for Gender Equality South Africa has specifically called for an urgent CGE Gauteng women safety audit call in the affected Kempton Park locations. This comprehensive audit is intended to involve multiple key stakeholders, including the South African Police Service (SAPS), local municipalities, transport authorities, and various community safety structures. The CGE emphasized that women should not have to lose their lives before authorities dedicate heightened attention to dangerous areas.

The proposed audit aims to meticulously assess various factors that contribute to increased risks for women and other members of the public. These critical areas of evaluation include the adequacy of street lighting, the presence and effectiveness of surveillance systems, the safety of pedestrian routes, the security of public transport points, and the monitoring of vacant or poorly supervised spaces. Furthermore, the audit will scrutinize police visibility and the accessibility of emergency assistance, all with the goal of enhancing Gauteng public safety for women.

Beyond the audit, the Commission has urged residents of Kempton Park to actively collaborate with law enforcement by providing any information that could aid investigators in identifying and apprehending those responsible for these killings. The CGE also extended its condolences to the families of the deceased women, while pressing authorities to bolster preventative measures in conjunction with their efforts to investigate and prosecute perpetrators.

The Commission for Gender Equality underscored that the State bears a fundamental responsibility to cultivate an environment where women can participate freely and equally in public life, including the ability to navigate public spaces without fear of violence. CGE spokesperson Javu Baloyi articulated that a society forcing women to avoid certain roads, cease outdoor exercise, alter work hours, travel solely in groups, or constantly share their location to feel secure, fundamentally fails to provide substantive equality. He stressed that women should be able to engage in ordinary activities such as running, walking to work, utilizing public transport, returning home, visiting friends, and participating in community life without having to assess whether such actions might imperil their lives.

The CGE highlighted that these deaths tragically illustrate the extent to which women in South Africa continue to face environments where their basic freedom of movement can become a matter of life and death. Ensuring women's constitutional right to equality necessitates the creation of safer public spaces and conditions that empower women to exercise their freedom of movement without apprehension. This perspective frames the Kempton Park women killings audit as a crucial step toward addressing systemic failures.

Concurrently, the Department of Social Development, at both national and provincial levels, has vehemently condemned these "callous, cowardly and utterly reprehensible" acts of violence against women. The department affirmed that gender-based violence (GBV public spaces South Africa) is not merely a women's issue but a pervasive societal problem demanding a collective societal response. It further declared that the loss of seven lives—mothers, daughters, sisters, and community members—represents not just a tragedy, but an emergency.

The Commission for Gender Equality's demand for an urgent safety audit in Gauteng, involving SAPS, municipalities, and transport authorities, indicates potential future regulatory changes or increased scrutiny on public safety infrastructure. Lawyers advising clients in urban planning, public transport, or security services should monitor these developments for new compliance obligations or potential liability related to public safety and gender-based violence prevention.

Source: Original reporting via Briefly.co.za