The femicide happening right now that not enough people know about

Fear and horror have been sparked in South Africa after the killings of at least 11 women in just two months.

Since mid-July, the bodies of women in their 20s and 30s have been found in Ekurhuleni, directly east of Johannesburg.

Police said on Sunday (27 September) that the latest victim was found in an open field at about midday local time and is yet to be identified.

The day before, the body of a semi-naked woman was found near a cemetery in the same municipality.

It comes after last year, when gender-based violence (GBV) was declared a national disaster by UN Women, along with the horrific statistic that women are killed at five times the global average in the country.

According to the country's official crime statistics, South Africa recorded 5,427 homicides from April to July.

The Guardian reports that eight of the recent 11 victims were found in the last three weeks, one of whom has been identified as Elizabeth ‘Tsontso’ Moselakgomo, who was found on 12 September after she went missing when she went for a run after work.

Vigils have been held for the murdered women, as have protests against the femicide (Per-Anders Pettersson/Getty Images)

The deaths have sparked protests, memorials and desperate demands for action on gender-based violence.

'It is time for good men to stop being silent men'

In a televised speech on Tuesday (29 September), South Africa’s president Cyril Ramaphosa addressed the devastating situation and announced measures to tackle the growing problem of violence against women.

He admitted that not enough had been done to protect women and announced that police would be reviewing unsolved murders, attempted murders and serious sexual offences against women and children.

The president directly called out South African men, urging them to challenge their friends and relatives who harass or abuse women.

Ramaphosa demanded: “It is time for good men to stop being silent men.

“For too long, gender-based violence has been treated as a woman’s problem to solve. Women march, the women of our country organise, they speak out, they protest, they confront, and they comfort survivors.

“Women change their routes home. Avoid going out at night and warn one another about dangerous places and dangerous men. We have placed the burden of male violence on women. That must change.”

South Africa’s president Cyril Ramaphosa has announced new measures (Gallo Images/Getty Images)

He also instructed that local governments have five months to address issues that compromised women’s safety and revealed that he had tasked five ministers with coming up with a plan within 60 days to reduce alcohol-fuelled violence.

Ramaphosa said: “Alcohol does not cause gender-based violence and it can never excuse it. Responsibility always lies with the perpetrator.

“But harmful alcohol use is a significant aggravating factor in interpersonal violence, and it must be addressed as part of our wider prevention effort.

“Women should not have to live in fear because government has failed to repair a light, clear a public space, process evidence, or enforce a law.”

The president also confirmed that suspects have since been arrested in connection with three of the killings, but police have not found any evidence that a serial killer was responsible for all 11 deaths, and that all of the possibilities were still being investigated.