Police Commissioner Activates Task Force After Ninth Body Discovered in Boksburg

SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE SERVICE ACTIVATES MULTIDISCIPLINARY TEAM AFTER NINTH BODY FOUND IN BOKSBURG

Lieutenant General Puleng Dimpane, Acting National Commissioner of the South African Police Service, confirmed Thursday that a multidisciplinary team of investigators and specialists has been mobilised following the discovery of a ninth woman’s body in Dawn Park, Boksburg, on 17 September 2026. The activation marks the institution’s most coordinated response yet to a series of killings that has claimed at least nine lives across the Ekurhuleni area over the past two months.

The force has committed to intensifying investigations into the circumstances surrounding each murder, identifying those responsible, and securing prosecutions. Dimpane stated that the multidisciplinary team will work to ensure that those responsible are brought before the court, a formulation that frames the police response explicitly in terms of accountability and due process.

The latest victim has been identified as Dineo Evelyn Motapane, 38 years old. Her body was found on the side of a road in KwaThema, Springs, and was positively identified by her family at the Springs Mortuary on Wednesday. Her family reported she was last seen alive on Sunday, and her body was discovered before a missing persons report had been filed with authorities.

Dimpane conveyed condolences to Motapane’s family and issued a public assurance that police remain firmly on the ground, with investigations into the eight previously discovered women being intensified in parallel.

Meanwhile, the South African Police Service has deployed additional officers to the Ekurhuleni area. The increased presence is designed to raise visibility, intensify patrols, and strengthen the investigative effort across the affected communities. Investigators and specialists, the police statement noted, continue to work around the clock to establish the facts of each case.

The institution has also appealed to the public for assistance. Community members with relevant information are encouraged to contact the Crime Stop Line at 08600 10111 or to submit anonymous tip-offs through MySapsApp, available for download on any smartphone. The police confirmed that all information received will be treated with the strictest confidence.

The multidisciplinary approach brings together investigators and specialists across different fields to examine the circumstances of each death, establish whether connections between cases exist, and develop leads toward identifying perpetrators. That breadth of institutional coordination reflects the scale of what authorities are now managing.

What remains open is whether the mobilisation of expert teams and additional officers will be sufficient to resolve cases that, in at least one instance, were not reported to police before a body was found. The pace of prosecutions, and the question of whether the killings are linked, will determine how the institution’s accountability is ultimately measured.