From the gruesome murders of entire families to the tragic death of a young woman raped and killed in  a post office, these eight murder cases captured SA's attention this year.

Uyinene Mrwetyana

UCT student Mrwetyana, who was 19, was raped and killed by a 42-year-old post office employee, Luyanda Botha, in the Clareinch post office in Cape Town in September.

TimesLIVE reported that Botha pleaded guilty  and will serve life in prison for the rape and murder.

Botha will serve a life sentence for murder, two life sentences on both counts of rape, and five years for defeating the course of justice. The five-year sentence will run concurrently.

Jesse Hess

University of the Western Cape student Hess, who was also 19 years old, and her grandfather, Chris Lategan, were murdered in their Parow flat in Cape Town in August.

Hess was found dead on a bed, while her grandfather was found tied up in the toilet.

TimesLIVE reported that two suspects, Tasliem Ambrose, 37, and David van Boven, 31, were arrested and charged with murder and aggravated robbery.

Van Boven, a relative of the student, was arrested in Hermanus after a separate incident in which a 16-year-old girl was allegedly raped.

Janika Mallo

Janika Mallo was raped and found with her head bashed in. The 14 year old's body was found her grandmother's yard in Heinz Park in Cape Town in September.

TimesLIVE reported that the grade 7 pupil at Northwood Primary School was raped before being bashed with a concrete block over the head.

According to The Daily Voice, police arrested two teenage boys, 18 and 16, and a murder case was registered for investigation.

Leighandre 'Baby Lee' Jegels

The 25-year-old boxing champion was shot dead near the close of women’s month, allegedly by her police officer boyfriend, while commuting with her mother in East London in August.

The man accused of killing Jegels, Sgt Bulelani Manyakama, died after shooting Jengels and her mother.

TimesLIVE reported that Manyakama died in hospital from injuries sustained in a car crash while fleeing from the police.

Lynette Volschenk

The 32-year-old woman was brutally murdered, allegedly by her neighbour, in Cape Town in August.

Volshenk's mutilated body was discovered in black bags in her Bellville apartment building.

TimesLIVE reported that a 24-year-old man appeared in court in connection with the brutal murder of his neighbour, and the matter was postponed to December 11.

Meghan Cremer

The 30-year-old show jumper was found dead with her hands tied and a rope around her neck at a sand mine in Philippi in Cape Town in August.

TimesLIVE reported that three suspects - Jeremy Sias, 27, Charles Daniels, 39, and Shiraaz Jaftha, 34, - kidnapped and murdered Cremer after she left her home at the Vaderlandche Rietvlei farm.

None of the men arrested in connection with the kidnapping and murder applied for bail and will spend Christmas and New Year behind bars.

Ayakha Jiyane

Jiyane, 16, and her three siblings were found dead after their father hanged them in September.

The body of the grade 11 pupil at Pinetown Girls' High School was discovered by police in a bushy area in New Germany.

Her three younger siblings, Khwezi, Siphosethu and Kuhlekonke Mpungose, were discovered by their mother hanging inside their home.

TimesLIVE reported that Durban father Sibusiso Mpungose was sentenced to four terms of life imprisonment for murdering his children.

Precious Ramabulana

The 21-year-old Capricorn TVET College student was murdered in her rented room at ga-Joel Section in Mokomene in the early hours of Sunday.

TimesLIVE reported that Limpopo police spokesperson Brig Motlafela Mojapelo said the student was asleep when she was attacked by an unknown man.

Mojapelo said he stabbed her several times and fled the scene. Her frantic screams were heard by a neighbour, who called the police.

According to EFF MP Naledi Chirwa, Ramabulana was “stabbed 52 times”.

Chirwa said the student had also been sexually assaulted.