Moses Sithole & David Selepe
 

 

 

 

These two South African serial killers, acting separately or in tandem, are believed to be responsible for the deaths of at least 40 black women and a child. South African authorities were alarmed by the growing number of dead women appearing around Pretoria and Johannesburg over a two year span. At first it was believed that they were the product of two separate killers. Robert Ressler, the F.B.I. Behavioral Science Unit's former chief, visited South Africa in 1995 to help with the investigation.

He concluded that the killings in Cleveland, a suburb of Johannesburg, and Boksburg, a suburb of Pretoria, were linked. In his psychological profile of the killer he indicated the possibility of two killers acting together.
On October 19, 1995, after a week-long nationwide hunt, police shot and wounded Moses Sithole, an ax-wielding ex-convict with six aliases.

On February 6, 1996, Sithole appeared in court and was charged with the murder and sexual assault of 31 women. In 1995 police arrested David Selepe and charged him with the murders of 11 black women who were found in a mine dump in Cleveland. Selepe was shot and killed by police when he tried to escape while visiting the crime scene.

It is believed that both men acted together in at least the Cleveland killings. Their reign of terror started in 1995 and was centered around black townships near Pretoria and Johannesburg. One or both of these men is also believed to be the "Atteridgeville Strangler" who is responsible for the deaths of 15 women and a boy around Pretoria.