South African police said Thursday, September 17, that a ninth woman’s body has been discovered in an area east of Johannesburg, and said it could be linked to a series of killings they are investigating.

The latest victim was found half-naked and wrapped in a sheet on the side of a road in Dawn Park on Thursday morning, police said. Her identity has not yet been released.

The discovery follows the deaths of eight other women whose bodies have been found since July 2026 across Ekurhuleni, a major urban area of Johannesburg.

All nine bodies were found in the Ekurhuleni municipality over the last two months, raising concerns that they were carried out by the same person or people. Police previously said that some similarities in the killings of the first eight victims were “sufficiently concerning for the police to issue a public warning.”

Several of the women were found partially nuked and with injuries.

Police said the discovery of the latest body early Thursday “will be added to the investigations into the deaths of women in Ekurhuleni.”

Provincial police commissioner Fred Kekana said a passerby found the woman’s body near a construction site and alerted police.

The unidentified woman appeared to be about 30 and had an apparent stab wound to her side, while her throat appeared to have been cut, he said.

Forensic investigators had not yet determined the official cause of death.

Kekana said police had not established whether her death was linked to the other cases and appealed for information from the public.

He also urged people not to circulate photographs of the bodies or unverified reports on social media, warning that they were spreading fear and could encourage copycat crimes.

A multidisciplinary team of experts has been assigned to investigate the cases and identify those responsible.

So far, the bodies had been found across several Ekurhuleni communities, including Kempton Park, Pomona, Clayville, Olifantsfontein, Rhodesfield, KwaThema and Dawn Park.

Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi said police were pursuing leads and making progress in two or three cases, although he did not provide details. He urged the public to give investigators time to gather sufficient evidence.

“They’ve declared war against the state. We’ll respond,” Lesufi told reporters at the scene. “We’re not going to surrender.”