Zinhle Mfutyana, 17, Found Dead at Bara Mortuary After Going Missing in Soweto

• Zinhle Mfutyana was last seen near Maponya Mall on 27 September 2026 before her family reported her missing
• Her mother only learned of her daughter's death weeks later, after a mortuary worker contacted her directly
• President Cyril Ramaphosa has since ordered a 60-day crackdown on unresolved gender-based violence cases across South Africa

GAUTENG — A Soweto family's desperate weeks-long search for 17-year-old Zinhle Thandeka Mfutyana ended in grief after her mother received a call from a mortuary worker at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital, informing her that her daughter's body had been held there since the day she disappeared.

Journalist Yusuf Abramjee tweeted on X that Zinhle was last seen on 27 September 2026 near Maponya Mall in Soweto. Her mother confirmed on 9 October that she had been notified of the discovery. Reports indicate the teenager was shot at the Bara Taxi Rank on the same day she went missing.

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Ekurhuleni killings compound national alarm

Zinhle's death is not an isolated incident. In Ekurhuleni, a separate wave of violence resulted in 10 women being found murdered within a two-month period, prompting police to open a specialised investigation into those killings. The cumulative scale of violence against women in Gauteng has intensified public outrage and renewed demands for urgent government action.

View the tweet here:

Ramaphosa orders GBV crackdown

President Cyril Ramaphosa responded to the crisis with a national address on gender-based violence, acknowledging that the state must do more. He described the ongoing violence against women as a source of national shame and cautioned that law enforcement alone cannot resolve the crisis.

Ramaphosa ordered a 60-day crackdown targeting unresolved gender-based violence cases and called on men across the country to take personal responsibility for ending male violence.

South Africa has long recorded among the highest rates of femicide in the world. Advocacy groups have repeatedly called for systemic reform, including faster prosecution of GBV cases, increased shelters for survivors, and mandatory sentencing reform for perpetrators.

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Vutomi Mathebula's family devastated after body found

In a related article, Briefly News reported on Vutomi Mathebula, the 28-year-old Giyani woman whose decomposed remains were found in Kempton Park after she was reported missing in March.

Her family says they received ransom calls during the search, and her mother remembers her as a loving, disciplined mother. The family is preparing to bury her in Giyani on Thursday.

Source: Briefly News