Trio accused of feeding women to pigs reappear in court, case postponed again

The bail hearing of the trio accused of killing two women and feeding them to pigs at Onverwacht farm, near Kotishing village in Makotopong, Limpopo has been postponed again for bail applications.

The Limpopo farmer and his two workers, accused of killing two women and dumping their bodies in a pigsty, reappeared at the Mankweng Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday for a formal bail hearing.

Zachariah Olivier, Adriaan de Wet, and William Musoro face multiple charges, including two counts of premeditated murder, attempted murder, possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition, and defeating the ends of justice.

Musoro also faces an additional charge for contravening the Immigration Act.

In the interim, the accused will remain remanded in custody pending their bail applications.

Bail applications will proceed at Polokwane Regional Court on 02 October.

Minister for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities Sindisiwe Chikunga was also in attendance.

State requests stated case

In a previous court proceeding, the state initially refused to hand over a statement given by the first accused, Olivier.

However, the court overruled this decision and ordered the state to provide the statement.

Undeterred, the state filed an appeal against this ruling, seeking to overturn the court’s decision.

The state requested that the court furnish the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) with the stated case.

NPA Spokesperson Mashudu Malabi-Dzhangi said they will use the requested stated case to build their case to file for an appeal.

“After the magistrate has granted us with the stated case law, then we are going to proceed with filing the appeal,” said Malabi-Dzhangi.

She said the request for the appeal could take a while, which is why the bail hearing was postponed to October.

Farmer and two employees, who allegedly killed two women, apply for bail. https://t.co/wpMdAJpzD3

— Newzroom Afrika (@Newzroom405) September 10, 2024

Defence team contests bail application venue

Advocate Jakobus Venter representing the first accused, Olivier, contested the moving of the bail application to the Polokwane court.

He said the court had no grounds to move bail to another court.

However, state prosecutor Joel Mamabolo argued that the Director of Public Prosecutions is entitled to choose where the case should be heard.

ALSO READ: Limpopo pigsty murders: Bail hearing postponed after defence lawyer complains about his client’s statement

Allegations of police assault

The second accused, Rudolph De Wet, claimed to have been assaulted and tortured by the police.

His request to point out the officer who assaulted him was denied.

Malabi-Dzhangi said De Wet was well within his rights to open a criminal case against the police officers whom he claimed assaulted him.

Speaking to eNca, General Lesiba Mashilo responded to allegations that the police took approximately three days before arresting the three accused.

He said the police acted on the information they had at their disposal at the time, saying the injuries of the two deceased ladies were not mentioned.

“I indicated that they [police] paid more attention to the victim [who reported] the matter.

“On Saturday night none of the police or Dr Mothiba knew that people were shot at, only that they were assaulted. Your priority will always tell you to assist the person who is severely injured. When we heard that people were shot at, at the farm the situation would’ve been different” said Mashilo.

However, according to eNca, the sole survivor alerted the police of the shooting, contradicting Mashilo’s statement.