Police rope in specialised team to probe murder of 14-year-old Lukhona Fose

Deputy Police Minister Dr Polly Boshielo says a specialised team has been assigned to lead investigations into the brutal murder of teenager Lukhona Fose.

The 14-year-old Fose, a Grade 8 pupil at Ikusasalethu Secondary School in Braamfischerville, was found dead with her body mutilated in an empty field on Sunday, 1 June 2025.

Grim discovery

Fose was last seen after leaving home with friends.

A passerby discovered Fose’s mutilated body under a shrub in Durban Deep and immediately notified police.

The grim discovery came after an intense search by family members, community members, and law enforcement officials following her disappearance on Sunday afternoon.

Boshielo, together with the Deputy Minister of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, Steve Letsike, visited Fose’s family on Monday afternoon.

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Investigation

The minister said the police’s occult unit has been roped in to investigate the matter.

“There are two possibilities: It could be that Lukhona was targeted for her sexuality, making it a hate crime, or her body parts were mutilated for muthi purposes.

“Our investigations are ongoing, and maximum resources have been roped in to find those who are behind the killing of this young woman.”

GBV

Boshielo raised concerns about the attacks and murders of women and children, saying that “it cannot be business as usual”.

“Putting a stop to gender-based violence and femicide is a national priority, and that is why maximum resources are always deployed to investigate such cases and track down these perpetrators.

“It cannot be business as usual when women are attacked and killed on a weekly basis. It cannot be normal when a 14-year-old girl’s private part is mutilated and removed,” Boshielo said.

Boshielo added that the fight against gender-based violence is a “priority that requires a collective response”.

‘A second pandemic’

This was echoed by President Cyril Ramaphosa in 2021 when he declared that “gender-based violence in South Africa should be considered a second pandemic, as serious as the coronavirus”.

“It is with the heaviest of hearts that I stand before the women and girls of South Africa this evening to talk about another pandemic that is raging in our country: the killing of women and children by men,” Ramaphosa said at the time.

Boshielo has urged women and young girls to be extra vigilant of their surroundings and not to be so trusting, always report their whereabouts to their parents, friends and guardians.”

ALSO READ: Family believes 14-year-old Likhona Fose was killed in suspected homophobic attack