Three men in South Africa are facing public outrage after being accused of killing two women and feeding their bodies to pigs on a farm in Limpopo. The accused—farm owner Zachariah Johannes Olivier, supervisor Andrian Rudolph de Wet, and employee William Musora—appeared in court on Tuesday. Authorities are pushing for the men to remain in custody until their trial concludes.
The men are charged with two counts of premeditated murder, attempted murder, and possession of an unlicensed firearm. Musora, a Zimbabwean national, also faces additional charges for being in the country illegally.
The incident allegedly occurred in August when a dairy company’s truck dumped potentially expired goods on Olivier’s farm. The victims, Locadia Ndlovu and Maria Makgatho, are believed to have trespassed onto the property in an attempt to collect the discarded items. Both women were shot and killed, while a third man with them was injured but managed to crawl to a nearby road and call for help. Police later discovered the decomposing bodies in a pigsty.
The case has sparked protests outside Mankweng Magistrates Court, with political groups demanding that the men be denied bail and receive the maximum sentence. The South African Human Rights Commission urged the public to refrain from vigilante justice in response to the crime.
Violence on South Africa’s farms has been an ongoing issue, with concerns over both criminal attacks on farmers and the mistreatment of farm workers. The trial is set to continue next month.
