A white South African farmer and two workers faced court on Friday for the shocking murder of two black women, whose remains were allegedly fed to pigs.
Zachariah Olivier, 60, along with Adriaan De Wet, 19, and William Musoro, 45, are charged with murder following the discovery of their decomposed bodies in a pigsty on a Limpopo farm on August 20.
The investigation began after a 45-year-old woman was reported missing after visiting the farm on August 17, accompanied by a 35-year-old woman. Both women had gunshot wounds, and a 47-year-old man, reportedly the younger woman’s husband, was shot and hospitalized after they attempted to salvage expired foodstuffs from the farm. The motive remains unclear.
Protests erupted outside the magistrate’s court in Mankweng, about 350 kilometers northeast of Johannesburg, demanding that bail be denied to the accused. The hearing has been postponed to September 10.
The killings have sparked outrage in South Africa, which contends with one of the highest homicide rates globally. The women’s wing of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) expressed being “horrified and outraged,” calling for “decisive action to curb violence against women.” The main opposition party, uMkhonto weSizwe, condemned the “atrocious murder of two black women by racist white farmers.”
Recent police statistics indicate nearly 6,200 murders occurred in South Africa between April and June this year, reflecting a slight decrease of 0.5 percent compared to the same period last year.