South African police recovered the body of a ninth woman in Dawn Park, east of Johannesburg, as a grim string of deaths heightened public alarm and prompted the Nigerian Consulate-General in Johannesburg to issue a safety advisory.

The discovery follows a partial lockdown and heightened roadblocks in Kempton Park, Ekurhuleni, where multiple partially naked bodies have been uncovered over a two-month period.

“We cannot continue picking up bodies,” Deputy National Police Commissioner Tebello Mosikili told journalists at the scene, adding that investigators are working to determine whether the cases are linked or the work of copycats.

Authorities have announced substantial financial rewards for information leading to arrests, while South Africa’s Democratic Alliance added a separate cash incentive.

Reacting to the escalating security concerns, the Nigerian Consulate-General issued an advisory urging nationals—particularly women and girls residing or traveling through Kempton Park, Rhodesfield, and surrounding Ekurhuleni areas—to exercise extreme caution.

The mission advised citizens to avoid walking or jogging alone in isolated, poorly lit areas, to travel in groups, and to remain alert to their surroundings.

While a multidisciplinary team has been deployed to investigate concerning similarities across the cases, the consulate noted that police have not yet formally confirmed the presence of a single perpetrator or established a serial killer link.

The mission also cautioned against circulating unverified media or allegations on social media, warning that such actions could jeopardize ongoing police investigations.