The trial of Limpopo farmer, Zachariah Johannes Olivier and his two workers accused of the brutal murder of two women and feeding their bodies to pigs has been set down for August.
IOL has previously reported that Olivier, farm supervisor De Wet, and farm employee Musora, a Zimbabwean national face two counts of premeditated murder, attempted murder, defeating the administration of justice and possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition after they allegedly killed two women and dumped their bodies in a pigsty.
Rudolph de Wet and William Musora abandoned their bail application when they previously appeared in court last year. The three accused men are being held behind bars.
Limpopo spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Mashudu Malabi-Dzangi said this week, the trio appeared briefly before the Mankweng Magistrate’s Court.
Musora faces an additional charge of contravening the Immigration Act.
“The investigations are completed, and the State has served the accused with indictment. Their matter is postponed to August 4 to 15, 2025 for trial at High Court in Polokwane,” said Malabi-Dzangi.
It is alleged that the three men fatally shot 47-year-old Mariah Makgato and 34-year-old Kudzai Ndlovu and wounded Ndlovu's husband Mabutho Ncube who had entered Onvervaght farm to collect expired goods dumped by a commercial truck. The two women died on the farm while Ncube managed to escape.
The man who survived the deadly Limpopo shooting has recounted the harrowing experience when he escaped for dear life, leaving his wife and Makgato on the scene.
“The first shot was fired into the air. The second bullet hit me, third bullet hit the other woman who was with us (Makgato) and the fourth bullet hit my wife. I went down, and after a while, I went to check on my wife to see if she was alive,” said Ncube after being discharged from hospital.
He said he tried to lift and assist his wife, Kudzai, but he could not do much as he had been shot as well.
The injured man struggled to get to the main road to seek assistance and he was later assisted by an associate, who took him to the police station.
At the police station, an ambulance was called and Ncube taken to hospital. He said while travelling to hospital, he noticed that his intestines were flowing from his stomach.
“When I was in the ambulance going to the hospital, they took off the T-shirt I was wearing. I had blood flowing out of my stomach and when I checked, it was flesh flowing from my abdomen. At hospital, they said they were taking me to theatre,” he said.
While in hospital, he heard that police and emergency services had visited the farm, but they did not find the women who were shot.
“After four to five days, while I was still in hospital, I then heard that the two women’s bodies had been found in the pigsty. I did not expect that to happen. All this time, I thought my wife was in the women’s ward in the hospital. That hurt me so much,” said Ncube.
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