The three women were among the latest victims in a surge of violence against women in South Africa which the country’s president has described as a “pandemic.

“As a man, as a husband, and as a father, I am appalled at what is no less than a war being waged against the women and the children of our country,” said President Cyril Ramaphosa in a nationwide television address Wednesday.

More than 20 women and children have been murdered in South Africa in recent weeks, he added.

More than 2,700 South African women and 1,000 children were killed last year,  according to police figures According to Ramaphosa, around 51% of women in the country have experienced violence at the hands of their partners.

“We note with disgust that at a time when the country is facing the gravest of threats from the pandemic, violent men are taking advantage of the eased restrictions on movement to attack women and children,” the President said.