A South African farmer and two of his employees have been charged with the gruesome murders of two women, who were allegedly killed and fed to pigs on a farm in Limpopo province. The victims, identified as Maria Makgatho and Locadia Ndlovu (also reported as Kudzai Ndlovu), reportedly trespassed on the farm in August while scavenging for expired dairy products left to feed the pigs.
The accused farm owner Zachariah Johannes Olivier, supervisor Andrian Rudolph de Wet, and agricultural worker William Musora face multiple charges including premeditated murder, attempted murder, and possession of an unlicensed firearm. Musora, who is from Zimbabwe, is also charged with being in South Africa illegally.
The two women were reportedly shot on Olivier’s farm. A third individual, believed to be Ndlovu’s husband, was injured and managed to seek help by crawling to a nearby road. Police later found the women’s decomposing bodies in a pigsty on the farm.
The accused appeared in court on Tuesday to apply for bail, but the hearing was postponed until October. The case has sparked outrage in South Africa, where high rates of violent crime and issues of farm worker mistreatment persist. Political parties have protested outside the court, demanding severe penalties for the accused and their denial of bail. The South African Human Rights Commission condemned the killings and urged against taking the law into one’s own hands, calling for anti-racism dialogues with affected communities.