The Gauteng government says its investment in technology and surveillance cameras could play an important role in efforts to identify those responsible for the deaths of nine women found in the East Rand over the past two months.
The latest discovery was made in Dawn Park, Boksburg, on Thursday, where the body of a woman was found naked and covered with a sheet.
Authorities are analysing CCTV footage as part of the investigation into the deaths.
Professor Dee Khosa from the University of South Africa’s School of Criminal Justice says surveillance footage could provide investigators with important leads, particularly if the women were killed at different locations before their bodies were dumped elsewhere.
She says footage could help identify vehicles and movements around the areas where the bodies were discovered.
Khosa says combining licence plate recognition technology and CCTV footage from roads leading to the different sites with cellphone records could assist investigators in establishing possible links between the cases.
However, she cautions that cameras are only effective as a deterrent when offenders believe the footage is being monitored.
Police have increased their visibility in areas following the discovery of the bodies of several women in Ekurhuleni.
Khosa says increased police presence can help deter crime in specific areas but cannot be the sole strategy for preventing crimes committed in isolated locations away from regularly patrolled roads.
She says municipalities also have a role to play by improving environmental safety, including repairing streetlights, clearing overgrown areas and securing abandoned properties and construction sites.
Khosa has also called on police to treat reports of missing women as urgent, particularly during the first hours after a person is reported missing.
The investigation into the deaths remains ongoing as authorities work to establish whether there are links between the cases.