Online Reporter
Thupeyo Muleya
Beitbridge Bureau
THE trial of a South African farmer and his two employees who killed two women, including a Zimbabwean, and fed them to
pigs began today at the Mankweng Magistrates’ Court in Limpopo Province.
The accused, Zachariah Olivier (60), a farmer, and his two employees, Adriaan De Wet (19) and William Musoro (45), a
Zimbabwean national, were arrested after committing the offence in August last year.
National Prosecuting Authority of Zimbabwe (NPAZ) regional spokesperson for the Limpopo Division, Ms Mashudu Dzhangi-
Malabi, said the trial will take place between October 6 and 17.
She said the accused persons were facing two counts of murder, one count of attempted murder, possession of an unlicensed
firearm and ammunition.
Other charges include defeating the ends of justice and contravention of the Immigration Act (in respect of Musoro, an alleged
illegal immigrant).
“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
and dumped their bodies in a pigsty at Onvervaght farm in Sebayeng,” said Ms Dzhangi-Malabi.
“The state is ready to proceed with the trial and has turned accused number two (De Wet) into a section 204 witness”.
Olivier and his two accomplices were arrested following the discovery of the decomposed bodies of Makgato and Ndlovu in a
pigsty on a farm in Sebayeng, outside Mankweng, on 20 August last year.
Ndlovu’s body has since been repatriated and buried in Zimbabwe with the support of the country’s Embassy in South Africa.
It is understood that the arrests followed a thorough investigation by the Provincial Tracking Team and the Murder and Robbery
Unit.
According to the police in Limpopo, investigations began when a 45-year-old South African woman went missing after visiting
the farm on August 17, accompanied by a 35-year-old foreign national.
Makgato and Ndlovu sustained gunshot wounds, while Ndlovu’s 47-year-old husband, who was with them, was also shot and
hospitalised.
Peter Tanyanyiwa