South Africa finds 10th woman dead near Johannesburg

South African police found another woman's body in Ekurhuleni, east of Johannesburg, bringing to 10 the number of women found dead in the municipality over the past two months.

Police said the semi-naked body was found near a cemetery in Tembisa township on Saturday. Police spokeswoman Brigadier Brenda Muridili said officers could only confirm the discovery while crime scene teams worked at the scene.

Provincial police chief Tommy Mthombeni said the victim appeared to have been stoned to death, but that a post-mortem examination would determine the cause of death.

The nine earlier victims were mostly in their 20s and 30s. Police said some were found stripped of their clothes and showing signs of sexual assault. The first victim, a 37-year-old woman, was found naked and bound with cable ties on July 15.

A suspect was arrested two days after the first body was found. Two women, aged 31 and 38, were arrested in connection with the ninth victim and charged on Monday. Police have said that killing may have stemmed from a relationship-related matter.

Police are investigating whether the killings are connected. They have offered a 400,000 rand reward for information leading to the arrest of the killer or killers, while the Democratic Alliance has offered a further $31,000.

The South African government said last week that the national Gender-Based Violence Command Centre received 6,782 distress calls between September 1 and 16, an average of 424 a day and a 21 percent increase from the same period in August.