Premier of South Africa’s (SA) Gauteng province Panyaza Lesufi has declared that a full-scale security lockdown in Kempton Park, located within the Ekurhuleni metropolitan area in the East Rand, aims to follow critical leads into the serial killings of women in the country.

The lockdown was announced by Acting Minister of Police Feroz Cachalia after the bodies of eight women were discovered in the area over the past two months. Law enforcement agencies across Gauteng, supported by national police units and inter-provincial reinforcements, have been deployed under intensified security measures, backed by a R400 000 ($21 978) reward for information leading to arrests under Operation Shanela.

Speaking on the mobilisation of police resources, Lesufi stressed that the severity of the crimes required maximum security intervention to trace leads and process anonymous public tips.

“The lockdown has been announced by the Minister, so what we’ve done now is that we’ve brought all law enforcement agencies in the province and have also asked for support nationally, and other provinces,” Panyaza Lesufi said. “You don’t kill eight women and it be business as usual. And with the evidence and with the work that the police are doing, we have no choice but to lockdown Kempton Park and follow up on the leads that have been provided, anonymous information that has been given and you can only do that when you have maximum resources to lockdown and go to the areas.”

–ChannelAfrica–