A White farm owner and two employees have appeared in court in South Africa over the alleged murder of two Black women whose bodies were found decomposing in a pigsty last August.
The case has sparked national outrage and intensified debate over the country’s deep racial divisions.
Zachariah Olivier, 60, his employee Adrian De Wet, 19, and 45-year-old William Musoro, a foreign national, are accused of shooting the women on suspicion of trespassing on Olivier’s farm in Sebayeng, outside Mankweng in Limpopo province. Prosecutors say the bodies were then dumped and fed to pigs.
The trio appeared at the Polokwane High Court on Monday but did not enter pleas. The hearing was postponed to Thursday.
They face two counts of murder, attempted murder, three counts of defeating the ends of justice, and illegal possession of firearms and ammunition. Musoro also faces charges under South Africa’s immigration laws.
Police say the victims, a 45-year-old South African woman and her 35-year-old neighbour, entered the farm with a man to collect discarded dairy products. All three were shot.
The man survived and is recovering in hospital. He later told reporters that one of the victims was his wife.
The case has drawn comparisons to a string of racially charged farm killings in recent years. In Mpumalanga, four men face murder charges for allegedly killing three suspected sheep thieves.
In a 2019 case, two White farmers were initially convicted for the death of a Black teenager but later acquitted.
While farm-related murders are rare, they remain a flashpoint in South Africa’s ongoing struggle with inequality.
