Itumeleng Kekana’s Brother Shares Family’s Ordeal During 17-Day Search Before Her Body Was Found
- The family of Itumeleng Kekana has spoken out about the desperate 17-day search for her after she was last seen alive on 17 July
- The body of the 32-year-old woman from QwaQwa was discovered on 3 August 2026 near a river along the R21
- Itumeleng's death has been linked to a broader police investigation into seven other women found dead across Ekurhuleni
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Byron Pillay, a Briefly News journalist, has dedicated a decade to reporting on the South African political landscape, crime, and social issues. He worked as a newspaper journalist for 10 years before transitioning to online.
GAUTENG — The family of Itumeleng Kekana has spoken publicly about the harrowing 17-day search that ended when her body was discovered near a river along the R21 in Ekurhuleni.
Kekana, a 32-year-old tailor and product seller originally from QwaQwa, was last seen on 17 July 2026. That evening, at around 7:00 PM, a colleague saw her on her phone before she stepped outside, saying she would return shortly. She never did. Her phone became unreachable, and her messages in the family WhatsApp group stopped entirely.
Her brother, Themba, has spoken out about the desperate search for her, recalling that he spoke to her on the day she was last seen, as she phoned to wish him a happy 44th birthday.
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17 days of searching ends in tragedy
Speaking to IOL, Themba said that the family travelled from the Free State to join the search, working alongside Itumeleng's boyfriend as they visited police stations, hospitals, clinics, and mortuaries across the area. The family also physically searched open fields, bushes, and dumping sites.
"We were not even sure where we should go because we searched for her almost everywhere," Themba recalled.
"It was very painful and difficult going through all different places searching for her, and we had so many questions without answers about what might have happened to her. We couldn't even eat at all because we were worried about her," he added.
As the days passed without any sign of her, the family finally received tragic news. On 3 August 2026, a commuter spotted a woman's body near a river along the R21. The family rushed to the scene and confirmed it was Itumeleng. Themba described the condition in which they found her as deeply distressing.
"When we arrived there, we found her partially naked, and her face was unrecognisable because she had bruises.
"We really didn't understand what had happened to her when we arrived at the scene. We couldn't believe what we saw or what might have happened."
The family has since urged investigators to review surveillance recordings from cameras in the vicinity in the hope that it would help them understand what happened to her.
Itumeleng was laid to rest in QwaQwa on 22 August. She has since been identified as one of two named victims in a police investigation probing the deaths of seven other women found across Ekurhuleni over two months.
Criminologist weighs in on possibility of a serial killer
Briefly News reported that criminologist Professor Nirmala Gopal weighed in on the murders in Kempton Park.
Professor Gopal said that the pattern of killings involving the women was consistent with the work of a single perpetrator.
The police have urged caution against drawing premature conclusions, as the community has been gripped by fear.
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Source: Briefly News
