Police discovered the body of a half-naked woman at a dilapidated building in Tongaat, north of Durban, on Sunday.
"At 11:30am, near Watson Highway, a half-naked body of a woman, believed to be in her twenties, was found in an old abandoned house," said provincial police spokesperson Captain Nqobile Gwala
Gwala could not confirm whether the woman had been strangled or raped.
"The post-mortem will be conducted to determine the cause of death. A case of murder has been opened for investigation by Tongaat SAPS," she said.