10 murders of young women and girls that shocked SA

The murder and rape of girls and young women have inundated the headlines in recent months.

At the weekend the search for three-year-old Courtney Pieters from Elsies River was called off when her body was found in an open field in Epping Industria in Cape Town.

Imraahn Mukaddam‚ chairman of the Elsies River Community Policing Forum‚ dispelled reports that Courtney's mother left her in the care of her six-year-old sibling.

Mukaddam said Juanita Pieters had asked their tenant‚ who had been living with them for two years‚ to watch the children when she stepped out for a short while. The same man has been arrested for her murder. In fact‚ the suspect was part of the search party who found her body‚ said Mukaddam.

Here are 10 recent cases that have sparked a public outcry:

1. Lindokuhle Kota‚ 2‚ from Khayelitsha - murdered in May

Ntuthuzelo Mayekiso‚ 25‚ appeared in Khayelitsha Magistrate’s Court in Cape Town on May 9 for the murder of his two-year-old child. State prosecutor Manelisi Macaba said he had been sent to reform school for an earlier offence.

• Khayelitsha police arrest man after rape, murder of his two-year-old daughter A Cape Town man recently released from prison was arrested on Sunday on suspicion of raping and murdering his two-year-old daughter. 

2. Courtney Pieters‚ 3‚ from Elsies River - murdered in May

After an extensive search by community members‚ Courtney's body was found in a field on Saturday. A 40-year-old man - believed to be a boarder with the family - was arrested on Sunday night in Elsies River. He is set to appear in court.

• Courtney's suspected murderer was part of the search team who came across the toddler's bodyThe suspect arrested in connection with the murder of three-year-old Courtney Pieters was a boarder in the family home‚ living just down the hall from Courtney. 

3. Iyapha Yamile‚ 4‚ from Khayelitsha - murdered in April

Iyapha's mutilated body was found in a communal toilet and it is believed that she was murdered during a gang ritual‚ the Weekend Argus reported.

4. Natalie Baartman‚ 5‚ from Syferfontein - murdered in February

Natalie's half-naked body was found in a field near her Syferfontein home in February. The suspect lives close to her parents' home‚ Algoa FM reported.

5. Stacha Arendse‚ 11‚ from Tafelsig - murdered in March

Stacha's body was found in Mitchells Plain. A 23-year-old man was arrested and the community tried to burn his house down. People Against Gangsterism and Drugs (Pagad) clashed with police and two people were arrested for public violence.

• Watch: Two arrested as residents riot over murder of 11-year-old girlTwo people were arrested for public violence after police took a suspect to the alleged scene of a child's murder. 

6. Rene Tracy Roman‚ 13‚ from Lavender Hill - murdered in March A 50-year-old man led police to the scene of her decomposing body. After his arrest‚ hundreds of residents turned on the man.

• Pagad leads uprising after suspect in girl's murder appears in neighbourhoodA Cape Town community erupted in protest on Thursday when a man arrested in connection with the murder of an 11-year-old was taken into the neighbourhood where she lived.  

7. Franziska Blöchliger‚ 16‚ from Kalk Bay - murdered 2016

The trial of Howard Oliver has started in the Western Cape High Court. Blöchliger was attacked‚ robbed and killed after she had gone for a run in Tokai forest.

• And then there was one: Franziska murder charges dropped against three menRape and murder charges have been dropped against three of the men arrested in connection with last year’s murder of Franziska Blöchliger in Cape Town’s Tokai forest. 

8. Sinoxolo Mafevuka ‚ 19‚ from Khayelitsha - murdered 2016

The trial of cousins Athabile and Xoliswa Mafilika was due to start in the Western Cape High Court on Monday but was postponed. Mafevuka was found dead in a communal toilet about 150m from her home in the SST informal settlement. She was half-naked and her head had been shoved into a toilet bowl.

• Sinoxolo killing: 2 in courtThe family of slain Khayelitsha teenager Sinoxolo Mafevuka is cautious about celebrating the arrest of two alleged rapists until they are found guilty. 

9. Karabo Mokoena‚ 22‚ Johannesburg - murdered in April It is believed that Mokoena's body was doused with petrol‚ a tyre was then placed around her neck and set alight. Her boyfriend has been arrested in connection with her murder.

• Horrific details of Karabo Mokoena's gruesome murder emergeHours before her murder on April 27, Karabo Mokoena had a heated argument with her boyfriend in a Sandton nightclub that deteriorated into a physical fight. 

10. Candice Alberts‚ 32‚ from Slangrivier - murdered in April

A policeman allegedly confessed to her murder‚ the Cape Times reported. The newspaper reported that her body had ''multiple stab wounds'' and she could have been strangled too.