S.Africa makes arrests over one of nine women found murdered

South African police said Monday they had arrested three people over the killing of one of nine women found dead in a neighbourhood east of Johannesburg in a series of murders that have alarmed the nation.

The discovery of the nine bodies in Kempton Park over two months has fuelled fear and anger, as authorities investigate whether a serial killer or killers were responsible.

A man and two women were arrested at the weekend over the killing of Jabulile Ntimba, whose body was found on September 17 and was the ninth victim, police said.

As in most of the cases, her body was found on the side of the road, partly clothed.

"There does appear to be an indication that her murder may have stemmed from a relationship-related matter, including what has been described as a possible love triangle," deputy police chief Tebello Mosikili said.

Gender-based violence is endemic in South Africa, despite years of government pledges to tackle the problem and the declaration of gender-based violence as a national disaster.

President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday echoed the police pledge that those responsible for the killings would be brought to book.

"We will be pulling out all stops to find these perpetrators," he told journalists, vowing additional measures to tackle violence against women.

"We are going to be deploying more money, more resources, more technology, to ensure that we deal with the fear that women are now subjected to," he said.

The latest arrests bring to four the number of people held by police in connection with the Kempton Park killings.

A man arrested over the murder of a woman whose body was found in July remains in custody and is due back in court on October 28, police said.

"We are not going to rush these investigations simply to make arrests. We owe it to the victims, we owe it to their families, and we owe it to justice to get this right," Mosikili said.

Separately, police said another woman was found dead on Sunday in Soweto, south of Johannesburg, her body wrapped in a duvet and dumped near a dam.

Police also said two alleged serial rapists were due in court in KwaZulu-Natal province. A 46-year-old man has been linked by DNA to 16 rape cases in Durban, while a 36-year-old man has been linked to at least 14 cases across two provinces.

South Africa suffers from a murder rate of more than 60 a day on average, one of the highest globally.