South Africa has left women with nowhere to run ― or simply jog

There is no freedom in a country where a woman cannot step out to jog without fearing for her life. The recent spate of violence in Kempton Park, which has seen four women’s bodies discovered in just two months, is an indictment of the state of women’s safety in South Africa.

The latest case of the disappearance of Elizabeth “Tsontso” Moselakgomo, a 38-year-old woman who vanished during her routine afternoon run, has left many South African women shaken.

Police are now investigating Moselakgomo’s disappearance, noting similarities in the circumstances surrounding the four deaths, and are establishing whether they are linked. But what they have found is a disturbing pattern: half-naked victims, visible bruising and crime scenes clustered within the same vicinity.

These are not isolated incidents; they are the result of a society that has failed to protect its women, over and over again.

Just on Friday, the Johannesburg high court found 23-year-old Bafana Mahungela guilty of murdering Delta Park High School teacher Kirsten Kluyts in 2023.

Kluyts, who was 14 weeks pregnant with a baby boy, was killed at a My Run event in Parkmore, Sandton, on October 29 2023.

This goes to show how unsafe South African women are; whether out for a run, walk or going to the mall, you are never guaranteed safety.

It is sad that in 2026, police warnings for women to avoid public spaces, to not walk or run alone, are the best we can offer. Safety instructions are not solutions, they are symptoms of a problem we refuse to address. What type of society are we building where a jog in the street could mean the end of your life?

The police response, including forming a dedicated task team with specialised detectives, is a step in the right direction. But these measures are reactive. They come after the fact, after lives have been lost, after families have been shattered. Why is decisive action reserved for the aftermath, rather than prevention?

Police must do more than just warn women, and the government must create an environment where women’s safety is guaranteed as a right, not a privilege or a gamble.

This includes better policing, investment in public safety infrastructure, swift justice for perpetrators and, crucially, a cultural shift that places the safety and dignity of women at the centre of public life.

Until then, we are all complicit in building a society where women like Elizabeth Moselakgomo cannot even go for a run without risking everything. South Africa can — and must — do better.