Similar cases of women who disappeared

ZESTAH September and police Constable Francis Rasuge are among dozens of high-profile cases of women who went missing before they were later found dead.

September, 27, went missing last December. Her mutilated and burnt body was found on New Year’s Eve along the N12 near the Lenasia military base, south of Johannesburg.

Her soldier boyfriend Zwelabantu Ngubeni, 31, has confessed to her brutal murder. He recently told the Westonaria Magistrate ’ s Court that he killed her after finding out that she had cheated on him.

Rasuge ’ s case captured South Africa’ attention when she went missing on August 27 2004, after she had been last seen alive with her boyfriend William Nkuna at a salon in Temba, Hammanskraal, outside Pretoria.

Nkuna was charged with her murder and the trial was the first high-profile case to continue without her body being found. Her remains were discovered by construction workers while laying a foundation for renovations at Nkuna’s house on March 20, 2012.

According to Missing Children SA, a non-profit organisation, 395 adults went missing between December 1 2014 and November 30 last year. Of those, 252 were found alive and 34 were found dead. These include Fundiswa Gxidolo and Thandazile Mpunzi.

Gxidolo 26, from Snake Park in Soweto went missing on August 4 2013 after leaving her parents’ home. She stayed in a shack in the area with her boyfriend. Her half-naked body was found on August 24 under a bridge, less than 2km from her shack.

The body parts of Mpunzi‚ 20, from Manguzi, in KwaZuluNatal, were found in a shallow grave in August last year.

She was apparently strangled and chopped into pieces. Mandla Mavuso and Lindokuhle Khumalo, both 19, were sentenced to 20 years in prison last month for her murder.

Bhekukufa Gumede, 65, who is a priest and traditional healer, was also arrested.

He pleaded not guilty.