A woman was murdered and a second was allegedly raped in separate incidents in Mpumalanga over the weekend, provincial police said on Monday.
Police spokesman Brig Leonard Hlathi said a 35-year-old woman was assaulted and strangled to death following an argument with the man she had been living with in Vosman, Witbank, on Saturday.
“Upon hearing the commotion, the man's uncle, who resides in the same yard, rushed to their room with the intention to intervene but found the woman lying motionless.
“He alerted neighbours who in turn notified police and medical personnel.”
The woman was declared dead on the scene.
The man is expected to appear in the Witbank magistrate's court on Monday on a murder charge.
In a separate incident in the same area on Thursday, a 18-year-old woman was allegedly raped by a 31-year-old man believed to be her friend.
“The report indicates an argument broke out between them, and the man then allegedly assaulted and raped the woman.”
The man was arrested and is expected to appear in the same court on a rape charge on Monday.
“Our courts continue to impose harsher sentences but perpetrators of gender-based violence continue to prey on vulnerable women and children.
“This situation cannot continue. It shows an underlying problem of moral decay in our society,” said provincial police commissioner LT-Gen Mondli Zuma.
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