The recent murders of six women in and around Kempton Park have once again placed South Africa’s gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) crisis under the spotlight, while raising questions about the nature of the crimes and the public response to them.
Researcher and GBV specialist Lisa Vetten from the Southern Centre for Inequality Studies at Wits University urged caution against speculation while police continue their investigation.
“I’m almost wondering if it actually might be new, in the sense that if this is the same person, and I stress if, because we don’t know yet,” she said.
Vetten noted that the timing of the killings appears more consistent with what could be described as a “killing spree” than a traditional serial murder pattern but emphasised that this remains speculative. She also questioned whether the public nature of how the bodies were allegedly dumped may indicate a desire for power and attention.
“We should think quite carefully about how we engage around this particular case, in terms of how we speculate about it,” she added.
While serial murder is relatively uncommon, Vetten said South Africa has recorded a significant number of such cases. According to SAPS data, police identified 117 sets of serial murders between the mid-1990s and 2019.
She explained that these cases are particularly frightening because they fall outside the usual patterns of GBVF prevention.
“They leave you feeling so helpless because you feel like you are out of control, and the usual things that work to try to address violence don’t seem to apply in these cases,” Vetten said.
As investigations continue, Vetten stressed the importance of allowing evidence, not public speculation, to guide conclusions about the Kempton Park murders.
Listen to the full interview below:
VOC News
Photo: Pixabay
