Tsontso’s final run on lonely Ekurhuleni route where she probably faced killer

Sunset was less than an hour away when Elizabeth Moselakgomo finally got the chance to slip out the big sheet-metal black gate at the bottom end of Mustang Street for a run.

It had probably been a rushed day, for just a little earlier she had been battling the afternoon traffic after picking up a parcel in Isando for her good friend Lesiba Molefe.

Because of the time, well past 5pm on that Wednesday, 9 September, Lesiba had thought Tsontso, as most people knew her, would skip running that day.
But Tsontso laced up her shoes and Lesiba believes she probably turned left towards Firefly Street, the start of a running route through her suburb of Rhodesfield, in Kempton Park.

She had completed the run countless times. This was a run she felt safe doing, along streets close to her home.

Safe enough that she felt comfortable returning home in the fading light.
But it was on this run, with the hum of heavy late afternoon traffic on the R21 highway and the sound of aircraft lifting off from nearby OR Tambo International Airport, that Tsontso encountered her killer.

Her killing would open an investigation that would reveal eight other murdered women and awaken South Africans to the likelihood that a serial killer is stalking the East Rand.

Lesiba still wonders why Tsontso decided on that late afternoon run. It could have been because she was training for the Two Oceans Ultra Marathon next year. A more likely reason is that Tsontso simply loved running.

The kilometres clocked every week in preparation for the longer weekend races helped clear her head, says Lesiba. “She ran because she was a health freak,” he laughs.

But being a working mom meant her runs had to be squeezed into a busy schedule. Snatched here and there.  

Lesiba and Tsontso were close friends, so much so that he describes their relationship as being like brother and sister.

They both shared and bonded over a love for long-distance road running. She began running in 2020, and the bug quickly bit.

When Lesiba ran his first Comrades ultra marathon in 2024, Tsontso supported him, and as a thank you, he gave her his prized Comrades cap to wear. She wore it when she ran races.

“When it was going to races, it was just me and her most of the time. It was all about fitness,” recalls Lesiba. When we had issues, we would say, “Okay, let’s go and run a race.”

Lesiba would join Tsontso on some of her runs through Kempton Park, and because she was a creature of habit, he believes he has a good idea of the route she took on that final run.

Her usual route was not a punishing run, no leg-burning steep hills, mostly flat.
Just about 6km long, following a circular route that avoided all the busy intersections and main roads that crisscross a suburb dotted with hotels and B&Bs that serve the nearby airport.

Her run, according to Lesiba, would take her on to Gladiator Street, where she would make her way to the Motus Ford Kempton Park dealership.

There, Tsonto would turn left on to a side strip of a road alongside Catalina Avenue.

But there was a payoff for avoiding those busy main roads. The side streets on her route are quieter, often flanked by open veld, with a lot of bushes and trees. The type of places many women running alone would perhaps avoid or be wary of – ample hiding spots for a predator.

The section of Kempton Park that Tsontso chose to run through that day is also part of a city with a dark underbelly. There is a drug problem that has spilt out on to the streets. Addicts wander the suburb, mumbling to themselves, clearly high.  

Kempton Park police station recorded the most kidnappings in the country between April and June this year – 76 cases – and there have been reports of attempted abductions.

One was of a woman who narrowly escaped an alleged abduction attempt in Kempton Park on Sunday night, 13 September. She apparently worked at a local hotel near Mosquito Park. The woman was able to break away and sought safety at the Tembisa Police Station in the early hours of Monday morning.  

Somewhere along her running route, Tsontso encountered trouble. By then, it was getting dark. She was alone, and she had left her cellphone at home.

Her only safeguard was her eight-year-old daughter, who was waiting for her at home.

It was dark when, at 6:30pm, her daughter made the call alerting her family that her mother had not returned from her run.

Her body would be found on Saturday, 12 September.

Where Tsontso encountered her killer or killers, we don’t yet know.
However, there is a point on that route where she was closest to where her body would be found.

On her typical route, she would have run along Whirlwind Street and passed the Alt Academy Flight Training building. Here, she would have been 200m from where her body would be found on York Road.

There is another scenario.

On 3 September, Tsontso uploaded a route map she had run on the sports app Strava. On this route, she deviated from her usual run and ended up on York Road, passing within metres of the spot where her body would later be found – in knee-high tall grass and a short distance from the R21 highway.

If this was the spot where Tsontso was killed, it is a wonder that someone didn’t witness the murder. The site is behind a hotel and metres from a busy highway. Perhaps somewhere a CCTV camera captured Tsontso on her last run. A clue to who killed her.

But while police investigate, Tsontso’s murder has struck a chord, particularly among runners across the country. Running clubs have honoured her and the other murdered women.

On Thursday, members of a small running club called Fit 2000 wore pink and carried flowers on their weekly time trial through the streets of Bedfordview. Others have done the same. Over the weekend, there were races where runners wore armbands in Tsontso’s name.

“We shouldn’t be doing nothing, as men of South Africa. We should be patrolling, going up and down,” says Lesiba. We need to bring our heads together and try and protect our homes, protect our ladies.”

“We need to find out who is dropping these women; where is he taking them? When is he doing that?” Lesiba said.

For Lesiba, there are now just the memories of races gone. Like Tsontso’s favourite race, the Sunrise Monster Marathon, that tackles the hills that surround Pretoria. Then on his phone is Tsontso’s entry to the Two Oceans. The race the two were so looking forward to completing next year.  Her first ultra marathon.
Lesiba now has his own plan to honour his running partner. It is not through a running race.

There is the Camino de Santiago, a network of hundreds of kilometres of pilgrims’ ways in Spain, France and Portugal that has become popular with hikers.
“Yes, I’m going to do that in her memory, because we planned on doing that together.” DM