South African police find 11th body in series of killings near Johannesburg

Johannesburg: South African police said Sunday that another body had been found in a municipality east of Johannesburg, bringing to 11 the number of women discovered dead there in 10 weeks.

Eight of the victims have been found this month in a series of killings that has alarmed a country with one of the world's highest murder rates per capita.

The latest body was found around midday in an open veld in the Ekurhuleni municipality, police said.

"A security company vehicle patrolling the area noticed the body and alerted the police," police spokeswoman Brigadier Brenda Muridili said.

Details about the woman's identity, age and cause of death were not immediately available.

The discovery follows the finding on Saturday of a semi-naked woman's body near a cemetery in the same municipality.

Provincial police chief Tommy Mthombeni said the victim appeared to have been stoned to death, with a post-mortem examination to determine the cause of death.

Police said Sunday that a man linked to the killing was arrested nearly 400 kilometres away after leaving the area.

The arrest brings to four the number of people in police custody over the killings. Police have not linked any of the cases.

The nine other victims were mostly in their 20s and 30s, with some found stripped of their clothes and showing signs of sexual assault.

Gender-based violence remains endemic in South Africa despite years of government pledges to tackle it, and its declaration as a national disaster.

The national GBV Command Centre received 6,782 distress calls from September 1 to 16, an average of 424 a day, up 21 percent from the same period in August.