Eleventh woman's body found in South Africa's Ekurhuleni as killings probe widens

South African police said on Monday that the body of another woman had been found in Ekurhuleni, east of Johannesburg, taking the number of female victims discovered in the area in recent months to 11.

The latest body was found in Springs, a town within the Ekurhuleni municipality, on Sunday by a private security company patrolling the area, police said.

The discovery came a day after the body of a woman who appeared to have been violently killed was found near Tembisa township. Police released few details about that victim, the tenth to be found, and did not immediately identify her.

A 36-year-old suspect has been arrested in connection with the killing and is due to appear at the Tembisa Magistrates Court on Tuesday. Police allege the suspect fled to Tzaneen in Limpopo province, roughly 400 kilometres from where the woman's body was found, and was arrested on Saturday evening, the same day the body was discovered.

Investigators began looking into the deaths after the bodies of three women were found in July and August within about seven kilometres of one another in Ekurhuleni. The discovery of six more bodies in the municipality over a 10-day stretch earlier this month deepened concerns that a serial killer or killers may be responsible.

Last week, two women appeared in court in connection with the killing of one of the women whose bodies have been found around Ekurhuleni since July. They are due back in court on October 1.

The string of killings has stirred anger in South Africa, which has among the world's highest rates of femicide and violent crime against women and children.