South Africans gathered for memorial runs and protests this week after the killings of nine women near Johannesburg.

Police have found the bodies of nine women in Ekurhuleni, east of Johannesburg, over the past two months and are investigating whether the killings are linked.

Most of the victims were in their 20s and 30s. Some showed signs of sexual assault.

A memorial run in Johannesburg on Saturday morning honoured one of the victims, Elizabeth Moselakgomo, who disappeared after going for a run and was found dead days later. Runners lit candles in her honour.

The killings have reignited public anger over violence against women in South Africa, where gender-based violence was declared a national disaster in 2025.

President pledges intervention

"Our women deserve to live, walk, run and exist without fear," the Uyinene Mrwetyana Foundation, a charity that campaigns against gender-based violence, said in a statement.

President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Thursday that South Africa could not allow itself to grow accustomed to such violence and pledged that no stone would be left unturned in the investigations.