Online Reporter
Thupeyo Muleya
A GRUESOME murder case that shocked Limpopo and Zimbabwe has finally opened in court — involving a South African pig farmer and his two workers accused of killing two women and feeding their bodies to pigs.
Zachariah Olivier (60) and his employees Adriaan De Wet (19) and William Musoro (45), a Zimbabwean, appeared before the Mankweng Magistrates’ Court this week as their chilling trial began.
According to National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson for Limpopo, Mashudu Dzhangi-Malabi, the trial will run from 6 to 17 October.
She said the trio face two counts of murder, one count of attempted murder, possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition, and defeating the ends of justice. Musoro also faces immigration-related charges.
“The trial of the pig farmer double murder case will resume in the Limpopo Polokwane High Court. Farm owner Zachariah Olivier and his employees, Rudolph De Wet and William Musora, allegedly shot and killed Maria Makgato and Lucia Ndlovu before dumping their bodies in a pigsty at Onvervaght Farm in Sebayeng,” said Dzhangi-Malabi.
She revealed that the State has turned De Wet into a Section 204 witness, meaning he will testify against his co-accused in exchange for immunity.
The grisly murders took place in August last year, when the decomposed bodies of Makgato and Ndlovu were discovered inside a pigsty on the farm. Ndlovu’s body has since been repatriated and buried in Zimbabwe with help from the country’s embassy in South Africa.
Investigations were launched after Makgato (45) went missing following a visit to the farm with Ndlovu (35) and her husband. The husband was also shot and left for dead, but miraculously survived.
Police from the Provincial Tracking Team and the Murder and Robbery Unit cracked the case, leading to the arrests of Olivier, De Wet, and Musoro.
The horrific “pigsty murders” have reignited outrage over the safety of migrant workers and women in South Africa’s farming communities.
