Johannesburg – Three men were arrested and a task team appointed to investigate the murders of women in Soweto after the bodies of three women were discovered, provincial commissioner Lieutenant General Deliwe de Lange said.
“Police will work around the clock to make sure that perpetrators are brought to book. It does not matter where they are hiding,” she said in a statement.
“Criminals should not be allowed to do as they wish and to have a field day in terrorising our communities. They must be isolated by all members of the community.”
De Lange said she was very concerned about a "trend which has resulted in the murder of women in Soweto" over the weekend.
The three men are expected to appear in the Protea Magistrate's Court on Thursday.
"It is believed more suspects were involved and police are still following further leads. At this stage, the team of detectives are still investigating the motive for the killing as well as trying to establish whether these killings are linked or not," Gauteng police spokesperson Colonel Lungelo Dlamini said.
"Two of the victims are suspected to have been friends and they might have been attacked by the same people before their bodies were dumped in different locations."
Dlamini said another body was found burnt and has not yet been identified. He said police were following up on allegations that it might be the body of a woman who was reported missing in a location in Soweto.
Gauteng police urged women to avoid the company of people whose behaviour is questionable; not to socialise with strangers; inform friends or parents of their whereabouts; take the registration number of the vehicles that they are using with friends; report any unbecoming behaviour of their boyfriends or their friends; participate in forums discussing issues of domestic violence; not allow the abusers to take advantage of them; and report any form of abuse to the police.