A South African farm worker has given chilling testimony in court, recounting how his employer allegedly forced him to feed the bodies of two Black women to pigs in an attempt to destroy evidence after they were shot dead.
Testifying before the Polokwane High Court, 21-year-old Adrian De Wet said he was instructed by his boss, farm owner Zachariah Johannes Olivier, to throw the bodies of the women into a pig enclosure, telling him that “when pigs are hungry enough, they’ll eat anything.”
De Wet admitted that he had opened fire on the women alongside Olivier, before being ordered to help dispose of their remains.
Olivier, 60, and another man, William Musora, 50, are both facing murder charges over the deaths of Maria Makgato, 45, and Lucia Ndlovu, 34. The women were allegedly shot while searching for food on a farm near Polokwane in South Africa’s northern Limpopo province in August 2024.
De Wet, who was initially charged with murder, had the charges dropped after turning state witness. He told the court that he acted under duress when he helped to dispose of the bodies.
According to his testimony, he and Olivier armed themselves with hunting rifles on the night of August 17, 2024, after hearing voices on the property. “We heard people talking and walking towards our direction,” he said. “Then we opened fire and heard someone scream.”
After inspecting the scene, they found one person lying face down. The next morning, they returned and discovered it was the body of a woman.
De Wet said Olivier then instructed him to throw the body into a pig enclosure that held eight to ten fully grown pigs. The following day, another body was found about 25 metres away and was also thrown into the pigsty.
When they returned on the following Tuesday, the pigs had eaten parts of the bodies. Prosecutors presented graphic photographs in court showing severe mutilations — including missing flesh from the buttocks, face, thighs, and shoulders.
When asked by State Prosecutor Advocate George Sekhukhune why they placed the bodies in the pigsty, De Wet replied: “We were disposing of the evidence because when pigs are hungry enough, they’ll eat anything.”
He further testified that Olivier later destroyed the rifles used in the killings by cutting them up with an angle grinder, burning the wooden parts, and dumping the metal pieces and spent cartridges into a borehole.
The son of victim Maria Makgato broke down in tears as De Wet recounted the events, while Olivier was seen wiping his eyes in court.
The case has sparked widespread public outrage in South Africa, deepening racial tensions between Black and white communities — particularly in rural areas where the legacy of apartheid-era inequality remains stark.
Despite the end of apartheid three decades ago, most farmland in South Africa remains owned by white farmers, while the majority of agricultural workers are Black and poorly paid. This imbalance continues to fuel resentment among rural Black communities, even as white farmers cite escalating crime and attacks against them.
Cross-examination of Olivier and Musora is expected to continue next Wednesday.
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