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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Rachel Savage in Johannesburg

Grief, trauma and solidarity as South African running club mourns member killed in wave of femicides

A portrait of a woman in front of a white arch
A memorial portrait of Elizabeth Moselakgomo who went missing on 12 September after going for a run after work. Photograph: Emmanuel Croset/AFP/Getty Images

The runners smiled and laughed, congratulating each other on finishing their 5km or 10km Saturday run, their foreheads glistening with sweat in the early morning sun. They helped themselves to water, instant coffee and sugary snacks, provided by waiting volunteers on the lawn outside a gated community of modern apartment blocks, and then stretched out together.

But there were sombre moments too, as they mourned one of their own, who had lit up their Saturday runs around Sandton, an upmarket area of Johannesburg. Elizabeth “Tsontso” Moselakgomo’s body had been found a week earlier, on Saturday 12 September. The 38-year-old went missing three days earlier, after going out for a run alone after work.

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