(FILES) Protesters sing and chant during a demonstration calling for gender-based violence and femicide to be declared a national disaster at the Union Buildings in Pretoria on April 11, 2025. South African police are racing to crack the killings of at least seven women whose bodies have been found east of Johannesburg in two months, the latest on September 15, 2026. The country has one of the world's highest homicide rates but the discovery of the women's bodies, partially naked and battered, has sparked fresh anxiety and raised fears that a serial killer or group of killers may be operating in the area. (Photo by Phill Magakoe / AFP via Getty Images)