The South African Police Service (SAPS) has launched an intensive investigation following the formal identification of 38-year-old Elizabeth “Tsontso” Moselakgomo, a local runner whose body was found over the weekend after she failed to return from an afternoon jog.
Family members positively identified her remains at the Germiston Medico-Legal Laboratory on Monday morning, concluding a tense five-day search that has heightened safety anxieties across the East Rand.
Moselakgomo vanished on Wednesday, September 9, 2026, after setting out for her routine afternoon run through Rhodesfield, Kempton Park. She was last seen alive jogging along Mustang Street.
The alarm was first raised by her eight-year-old daughter, who contacted relatives when her mother did not return by nightfall. A missing person’s case was registered with the Kempton Park SAPS, prompting community search efforts alongside Renegades Search & Rescue.
The search took a tragic turn on Saturday when authorities discovered a partially clothed female body matching her general description behind a hotel near York Street in Rhodesfield. Due to the severity of the facial trauma, immediate visual verification was impossible, necessitating Monday’s formal forensic identification process.
Moselakgomo’s death marks a grim milestone for the community, as she is the fourth woman found dead in the Kempton Park and surrounding precinct within a two-month span. Fear has intensified across local neighbourhoods, with residents using community forums to demand more visible policing, safer public recreational spaces, and clearer communication from law enforcement.
Political and civic organizations have also voiced sharp criticism regarding the timeline of the police response. Statements released on Monday argued that earlier discoveries of female victims should have triggered proactive community warnings and immediate interventions before public panic escalated during the search for Moselakgomo.
In response to the growing public outcry, Acting National Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Puleng Dimpane officially reassigned the cases to a specialized, multidisciplinary task team. The dedicated unit will centralize the investigations to determine whether a single perpetrator is targeting women in the region, though forensic analysts emphasize that it remains premature to definitively link all four homicides.
In an official statement, Lieutenant General Dimpane extended condolences to the family and assured the public that SAPS would leverage all available resources to secure accountability. While one suspect remains in custody relating to an initial victim found in July, detectives are aggressively pursuing fresh leads tied to the Rhodesfield crime scene.