South African police arrest three people over woman’s death after spate of killings

JOHANNESBURG, Sept 21 (Reuters) – South African police have arrested three people over the death of a woman whose body was found east of Johannesburg last week, after a spate of femicides reignited public anger over violence against women.

The suspects, a man and two women, were arrested over the weekend and were due to appear in court on Monday.

Deputy National Police Commissioner Tebello Mosikili told reporters the woman may have been killed because of a “love triangle”, but that investigations were continuing.

Police have found the bodies of nine women around Ekurhuleni municipality over the past two months and are trying to establish whether the killings are linked.

Most of the victims have been in their 20s and 30s, with some found stripped of their clothes and showing signs of sexual assault.

South Africa has one of the highest murder rates in the world, and gender-based violence is a longstanding issue.

Many women say government pledges to address the crisis have made little difference.

“We are investigating the facts of each case thoroughly to ensure that we get to the real perpetrators,” Mosikili said, adding police had arrested more than 350 people for rape in the past week as part of a broader crackdown on violence against women.

Separately, a video of a businessman threatening women in a restaurant in Johannesburg’s financial district Sandton went viral over the weekend.

The businessman handed himself over to police, was arrested and will appear in court next month. His company fired him.

(Reporting by Siyabonga Sishi;Additional reporting by Nilutpal Timsina and Anathi Madubela;Writing by Sfundo Parakozov;Editing by Alexander Winning)