Yet again, a wave of femicide washes over South Africa, and women and children in this country are gripped with fear and unconfirmed suspicions of a possible serial killer.

This already existing fear has been reinvoked by the discovery of Ekurhuleni jogger Elizabeth “Tsontso” Moselakgomo and other femicide victims. Moselakgomo was reported missing after her eight-year-old daughter raised the alarm to family members when her mother failed to return home at her usual time.

However, whether the murders of the eight Gauteng women whose bodies were discarded in velds like worthless garbage were committed by a serial killer or various individuals is irrelevant. These women are still dead. They are never coming back.

Activist group Not In My Name (NIMN) expressed horror and outrage at these discoveries, saying the pattern was undeniable.

“Women, half-naked and bruised, were discarded in the same vicinity. Whether SAPS (South African Police Service) labels this a ‘serial killer’ or not is a matter of semantics. What we know is that a predator, or predators, is hunting women,” said NIMN.

NIMN strongly criticised the government for what it said was failure in its constitutional duty to protect women. “Telling women to hide is not a strategy; it is a surrender,” NIMN added.

Various calls have been made by members of the SAPS and other government departments for women to exercise caution and be more vigilant. South African women took to social media to reject this piece of advice, accusing the government of putting the onus on victims to “avoid” becoming a statistic instead of unapologetically confronting the perpetrators.

NIMN national spokesperson Boitumelo Thage concurred, saying this shifts the burden from the offender to the victim.

“Women are taught how to avoid being killed, instead of men being unequivocally warned not to harm women and being shown that there will be swift consequences when they do,” Thage laments.

But what does cautioning women not to jog alone, to avoid dark alleys and to tell someone where they are going look like in a country where Olorato Mongale was murdered despite having shared her location with loved ones?

How much more can women avoid dark alleys when Lusanda Mathabela, Reeva Steenkamp, Luyanda Nkambule and many others were killed in their own homes?

Thage says women sharing live locations and remaining constantly alert cannot compensate for failing institutions, dangerous men and a culture that normalises violence. Vigilance may reduce risk in certain moments, Thage adds, but it cannot end femicide.

She says Moselakgomo’s daughter being forced to share with her family that her mother did not make it home exposes a profound failure in South Africa’s society.

“A child should not have to become the investigator, spokesperson or protector of her family. Her courage must be honoured, but we must never romanticise the circumstances that demanded it.”

“That child should have been protected by adults, communities and institutions, not forced to carry an unbearable responsibility,” Thage asserts.

NIMN’s message is clear: Stopping femicide is not the responsibility of women and children. It is the responsibility of the men who perpetrate violence, the communities that protect or remain silent about them and the state institutions mandated to prevent violence and deliver justice. The government must strengthen prevention, policing, prosecution and survivor support.