JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Police in South Africa said Monday that they arrested two suspects in connection with one of a series of killings of women in the same area on the outskirts of Johannesburg.

The nine killings of women in their 20s and 30s in the municipality of Ekurhuleni over the last two months has triggered anger in South Africa, which has high rates of violence against women.

Police have been investigating whether the killings were connected, raising fears that a serial killer or killers might be operating in the area.

The suspects, two women, appeared in the Boksburg Magistrates Court on Monday, police said, after being arrested in connection with the killing of a woman whose body was found last week in Ekurhuleni, east of Johannesburg.

Their case was postponed to Oct. 1 when they can formally apply for bail. Police initially said that a third person, a man, was taken into custody. But police later said that the man was released and wasn’t charged.

Investigators haven't linked the two female suspects to the eight other killings.

Authorities have said that it's not certain that all the killings are connected, though they said they have identified similarities in some of them and have issued an alert for women in Ekurhuleni to take precautions.

Police Minister Firoz Cachalia said Sunday that so far there was no conclusive evidence that the killings were carried out by a serial killer, “but nothing has yet been excluded while investigations continue.”

The bodies of six of the victims were found in the space of 10 days this month. Four of the nine victims were discovered within approximately 6 kilometers (around 4 miles) of each other. Several of the bodies were discovered in open areas near main roads.

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This story has been corrected to show that police arrested and charged two people who appeared in court, not three people. A third person was initially detained, but was later released without being charged.