15 September 2026
We Will Speak Out South Africa (WWSOSA) and the Faith Action Collective to End GBV — a movement of more than a thousand faith leaders, theologians, activists, and partner organisations across South Africa’s diverse religious traditions — are heartbroken and outraged by the discovery of the bodies of at least seven women, with reports of an eighth, found in and around Kempton Park, Rhodesfield, Olifantsfontein, and the wider Ekurhuleni area over the past two months.
Words of condolences seem inadequate to express our feelings of love and compassion for the families, friends, and loved ones of every woman whose life has been brutally taken -those we hear of in the media, and the hundred+ other invisible women who will have also been killed in the same period- on average 7-15 per day… We claim outrage when we hear these sensational true-crime stories in the media… and then forget. But no family should have to walk into a mortuary in search of someone they love. No community should have to live in fear for the safety of its women simply going for a run, walking to work, or moving through their own neighbourhood.
As faith communities, we cannot and will not treat this as distant news. These are our daughters, our sisters, our mothers, our congregants. The pattern emerging in these cases — women found partially clothed, bearing signs of violence, their bodies discarded rather than laid to rest with dignity — is a profound violation not only of the law, but of the sacred worth of every human life that our diverse faith traditions all affirm.
We welcome the establishment of a dedicated multidisciplinary task team by the South African Police Service, and we urge that this investigation be resourced, sustained, and pursued with urgency until answers are found and those responsible are held accountable. We echo calls for the public to avoid speculation that could compromise the investigation, while encouraging anyone with credible information to come forward to law enforcement without delay. We demand this for every femicide, every woman whose life has been snatched away.
But we also say plainly: policing and prosecution alone will not end this. Femicide in South Africa is not a series of isolated tragedies — it is the visible symptom of a much deeper sickness, one that our faith institutions have not always confronted with the honesty and urgency it demands. We are a country at war with ourselves. How do we end this? How has it been happening on our watch as people of faith, who should be beacons of hope and healing? We have to hold ourselves accountable. Too often, silence from the pulpit has stood in for the courage to name gender-based violence directly. That silence must end. The denial, the inaction must end. Women are dying daily all over South Africa, often unnoticed by the media -mostly at the hands of men, 60% of their killers are men they know and trust.
We call on our faith leaders, communities, and partners to:
- Speak openly about gender-based violence and femicide from pulpits, platforms, and pastoral spaces, rather than treating it as a subject too uncomfortable to raise;
- Believe survivors, and support them and their loved one with pastoral care, practical assistance, and — where appropriate — referral to shelters, counselling, and legal support, without judgment or silencing;
- Advocate publicly for the safety of women everywhere, not just in Kempton Park, Rhodesfield, and Olifantsfontein – check your neighbourhoods for inadequate lighting, work towards safer public spaces, and demand visible, accountable policing;
- Model safety, harmony and accountability in how we live out our ministries in our faith communities, wider society and also in our own families and every interaction;
- Join us in prayer and lament, while resisting the temptation to let prayer alone stand in for action.
Every woman deserves to live, work, worship, and move through this world without fear. We cannot, and will not, normalise the violation and killing of women. As faith communities united across our differences, we commit to standing, and acting, in solidarity with affected families, with the women of Ekurhuleni living in fear tonight, and with every woman in South Africa who should never have to carry that fear at all.
We must speak out, listen and act. Together.
Issued by:
We Will Speak Out South Africa (WWSOSA), Secretariat of the Faith Action Collective to End GBV
For media enquiries, please contact:
Gil Harper, 082 434 5874 or communication@wwsosa.org.za
Help for Survivors and their Loved ones:
Gender-Based Violence Hotline 0800 428 428 or the STOP Gender Violence Helpline at 0800 150 150. [1]
Police Emergency: 10111 South African Police Service (SAPS).
National Shelter Movement: 0800 001 005 or send a WhatsApp/SMS to 082 057 8600 for domestic abuse and shelter support.
LifeLine South Africa: 0861 322 322 for a 24/7 national trauma and crisis line.
Tears Foundation: *134*7355# for a free SMS crisis helpline.
Human Trafficking Hotline: 0800 222 777 for 24/7 assistance.
People Opposing Women Abuse (POWA): 011 642 4345 for counselling and shelter options.
Families South Africa (FAMSA): national@famsa.org.za for trauma counselling and family support.
Childline South Africa: 0800 055 555 for support regarding children and young survivors.