Her Right to Be Safe: Standing With the Women of Ekurhuleni

Nine women. Nine lives. Families changed forever.

Since July 2026, the bodies of nine women have been discovered across Ekurhuleni, including several women found in and around Kempton Park. Their deaths have brought grief, fear and anger to communities across Gauteng and South Africa. Police investigations into the circumstances and possible connections between the cases remain ongoing.

Behind every number was a woman. A daughter. A mother. A sister. A friend. A colleague. Someone with people who loved her, plans she had not yet fulfilled and a life she had every right to continue living.

Women should not have to calculate the danger of going for a run, walking home, travelling to work or simply existing in a public space. Safety should not be a privilege.

H.E.R • Heal • Empower • Rise stands alongside the families mourning these women and the communities that have marched, prayed, gathered and spoken out against gender-based violence and femicide.

Our organisation exists to restore hope, dignity and opportunity to women and children facing adversity. Moments such as this remind us why that mission matters.

Healing means standing beside women and families carrying trauma and loss.

Empowerment means ensuring women know their voices, lives and rights matter.

Rising means building communities in which women and children can live without fear.

This cause is about more than remembering those we have lost. It is about refusing to accept violence against women as normal.

We call on communities to support survivors, challenge abuse, report violence and create environments in which women and children are protected. We also recognise that ending gender-based violence cannot become another responsibility placed solely upon women. Men, families, institutions and communities all have a role to play.

We remember the women of Ekurhuleni. We stand with their families. We stand with every woman demanding the fundamental right to live safely and with dignity.

For her. For our daughters. For every woman.

Heal. Empower. Rise.