A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more people, with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them.[1] However, South Africa uses a more lenient definition of serial murder, defining it as, "The unlawful killing of two or more victims by the same offender(s), in separate events."[2]
| Name | Nickname / AKA | Years active | data-sort-type="number" | Proven victims! | data-sort-type="number" | Possible victims! | Status | Notes | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baninzi, Asande | 2001 | 14 | 18 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Together with accomplice Mthutuzeli Nombewu, robbed and murdered people in the Cape Flats area | [3] | |||
| Basson, Pierre | The Insurance Killer, South Africa's First Recorded Serial Killer | 1903–1906 | 9 | 9+ | Committed suicide to avoid apprehension | Murdered people in Claremont, Cape Town so he could get their life insurance | [4] | ||
| Brown, John Frank | The Cross Dressing Killer(s) | 1993–1995 | 5 | 5 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Together with accomplice and lover Jacques Coetzee murdered other gay men around Johannesburg | [5] | ||
| Brandt, Brydon | 1989–1997 | 4 | 5 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Murdered prostitutes and his roommates in the Eastern Cape | [6] | |||
| Burger, Cornelius | 1936–1937 | 5 | 5 | Died in a psychiatric facility | Murdered prostitutes as revenge for contracting a venereal disease | [7] | |||
| Coetzee, Jacques | The Cross Dressing Killer(s) | 1993–1995 | 5 | 5 | Committed suicide in custody | Together with accomplice and lover John Frank Brown murdered other gay men around Johannesburg | [8] | ||
| Duma, Sibusiso | 2007 | 7 | 7 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Killed various people around Pietermaritzburg during robberies | [9] | |||
| Kgabi, John Phuko | The Ritual Killer | 1974–1978 | 6 | 14 | Executed in 1980 | Former police officer who garroted and mutilated young girls in Atteridgeville and Limpopo | [10] | ||
| Lineveldt, Gamal | The Cape Flats Murderer | 1940 | 4 | 4 | Executed in 1941 | Responsible for the "Cape Flats Murders"; bludgeoned to death white women around the Cape Flats area | [11] | ||
| Maake, Cedric | The Wemmer Pan Killer | 1996–1997 | 27 | 27+ | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Serial rapist who murdered victims in the Wemmer Pan area | [12] | ||
| Mabhayi, Bulelani | The Monster of Tholeni | 2007–2012 | 20 | 20 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | House intruder who murdered women and children in the village of Tholeni | [13] | ||
| Majola, Simon | The Bruma Lake Killer(s) | 2000–2001 | 8 | 8+ | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Together with accomplice Themba Nkosi, known as "The Bruma Lake Killers"; robbed and drowned men in Bruma Lake | [14] | ||
| Makamu, Fanuel | The Mpumalanga Serial Rapist | 2000 | 6 | 6 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Together with accomplice Henry Maile, robbed, raped and murdered women around Mpumalanga | [15] | ||
| Maketta, Jimmy | The Jesus Killer | 2005 | 16 | 16 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | [16] | |||
| Makgae, Andries | 2012–2013 | 3 | 4+ | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Raped and murdered women around Onderstepoort; suspected in best friend's murder | [17] | |||
| Makhubela, Dumisani | Lotto Gangster(s) | 2005 | 7 | 7 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Together with accomplice Johannes van Rooyen, robbed, raped and murdered people around Mpumalanga, including a family of four | [18] | ||
| Mashiane, Johannes | The Beast of Atteridgeville | 1977–1989 | 13 | 13 | Committed suicide to avoid apprehension | Murdered his girlfriend; after release, raped and strangled 12 young boys around Atteridgeville | [19] | ||
| de Melker, Daisy | South Africa's First Convicted Female Serial Killer | 1923–1932 | 3 | 3 | Executed in 1932 | Poisoned two husbands and her son with strychnine for life insurance | [20] | ||
| Mfeka, Samuel Bongani | The Kranskop Killer | 1993–1996 | 6 | 6+ | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Raped and strangled women around KwaZulu-Natal | [21] | ||
| Mogale, Jack | The West-End Killer | 2008–2009 | 16 | 16 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Kidnapped, raped and murdered women in southern Johannesburg | [22] | ||
| Msomi, Elifasi | The Axe Killer | 1953–1955 | 15 | 15 | Executed in 1956 | Murdered people while he was supposedly under the influence of a Tokoloshe | [23] | ||
| Mulaudzi, Mukosi Freddy | The Limpopo Serial Killer | 1990–2006 | 13 | 13 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Murdered two people in 1990, then escaped from prison and resumed killing | [24] | ||
| Ncama, Nicholas Lungisa | The East Cape Killer | 1997 | 6 | 6 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Raped and strangled women around Port Elizabeth | [25] | ||
| Ndlangamandla, Velaphi | The Saloon Killer | 1998 | 19 | 19 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Robbed and murdered people during home invasions in Mpumalanga | [26] | ||
| Ndlovu, Rosemary | 2012–2018 | 6 | 6 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Former policewoman who murdered her ex-partner and relatives for life and funeral insurance policies | [27] | |||
| Ntsieni, Ndivhuwo | The Univen serial killer | 2014 | 5 | 5 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Raped and murdered women and young girls in and around the University of Venda | [28] | ||
| Nyauza, Richard | The Quarry Killer | 2002–2006 | 18 | 19 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Raped and murdered women after being infected with HIV, dumping their bodies in a quarry | [29] | ||
| Randitsheni, David | The Modimolle Serial Killer | 2004–2008 | 10 | 10 | Committed suicide in prison | Abducted, raped and murdered children in Modimolle | [30] | ||
| van Rooyen, Gert | 1988–1989 | 6 | 6+ | Committed suicide to avoid apprehension | Pedophile who, together with accomplice and wife Joey Haarhoff, abducted, raped and murdered six teenage girls whose bodies have never been found | [31] | |||
| van Rooyen, Johannes | Lotto Gangster(s) | 2005 | 7 | 7 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Together with accomplice Dumisani Makhubela, robbed, raped and murdered people around Mpumalanga, including a family of four | [32] | ||
| van Schoor, Louis | The Apartheid Killer | 1986–1989 | 9 | 39+ | 20 years; released in the 2000s and died a free man in 2024 | Former policeman and security guard who killed black South Africans during alleged crimes | [33] | ||
| Sedumedi, Khangayi | The Century City Killer | 2011–2015 | 4 | 6 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Raped and murdered women around Century City and Kensington | [34] | ||
| Sidyno, Samuel | The Capital Park Serial Killer | 1998–1999 | 7 | 7 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Strangled teenagers and women, then disposed of their bodies near the Pretoria Zoo | [35] | ||
| Sithole, Moses | The ABC Killer | 1994–1995 | 38 | 76 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Raped and murdered women around Atteridgeville, Boksburg and Cleveland | [36] | ||
| Stander, Riaan | 2001–2007 | 3 | 3 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Murdered two prostitutes in Port Elizabeth after being released from prison for running over a woman with his car | [37] | |||
| Sukude, Themba | The Newcastle Serial Killer | 2004–2005 | 4 | 4 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Attacked couples around parks, raping the female and bludgeoning the male to death with rocks. He later switched to solely targeting men | [38] | ||
| Taki, Thozamile | The Sugarcane Killer | 2007 | 13 | 13 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Robbed and murdered women around KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape, dumping their bodies in sugarcane and tea plantations | [39] | ||
| Thwala, Sipho | The Phoenix Strangler | 1996–1997 | 16 | 16+ | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Raped and murdered women in sugarcane fields near Phoenix | [40] | ||
| Vilakazi, Themba | The Railway Killer | 2005–2012 | 3 | 5 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Murdered black males around Pretoria | [41] | ||
| Wilken, Stewart | The Boetie Boer | 1990–1997 | 10 | 10+ | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Raped and murdered prostitutes, young boys and his own daughter around Port Elizabeth | [42] | ||
| Williams, Tommy | The City Serial Killer | 1987–2008 | 3 | 3 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Strangled three acquaintances in varying circumstances; South Africa's longest active serial offender | [43] | ||
| Xitavhudzi, Elias | The Pangaman | 1953–1959 | 16 | 16 | Executed in 1960 | Murdered and mutilated white women around Atteridgeville | [44] | ||
| Zikode, Christopher Mhlengwa | The Donnybrook Serial Killer | 1994–1995 | 18 | 18 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Necrophiliac house intruder who murdered people around Donnybrook, then had sex with the female victims' corpses | [45] |
| Nickname | Years active | data-sort-type="number" | Proven victims! | data-sort-type="number" | Possible victims! | Region(s) where active | Notes | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cape Town Prostitute Killer | 1992–1996 | 19 | 19 | Western Cape | Strangled prostitutes and domestic workers around Cape Town | [46] | ||
| Fosaville serial killer | 1999–2003 | 13 | 13 | KwaZulu-Natal | Abducted, bound and strangled women around Newlands East | [47] | ||
| Sleepy Hollow Killer | 1990s–2007 | 13 | 16+ | Kwa-Zulu Natal (confirmed) Free State, Eastern Cape (suspected) | Raped and strangled women, mostly sex workers and prostitutes, using their own panties | [48] |
| Afzal Simons, Norman | 1986–1994 | 1 | 22 | Cape Town | Sentenced to 35 years imprisonment in 1995 | Raped and strangled young boys with pieces of their clothing, their hands bound behind their backs, their shoes removed and their faces pushed into the sand. | [49] |