Three Farmers Charged with Murdering Two Women and Feeding Them to Pigs

Prosecutors believe the two women trespassed onto the farm with another man -- who reportedly ran away screaming for help -- and were subsequently shot, and dumped into the pigsty.

Three South African farmers are facing multiple murder charges after the shocking deaths of two women whose bodies were found decomposing in their pigsty.

Zachariah Olivier, 60, is the owner of the farm. He and the farm's supervisor William Musora, 45, and an employee, Adriaan De Wet, 19, appeared in Limpopo court on Tuesday. They each face two counts of murder, one count of attempted murder, and one count of possession of an unlicensed firearm, per local news outlet DispatchLive .

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The state is pushing for them to stay behind bars until the trial is concluded. With the case leading to outrage in the area, the public clearly agreed, standing outside the courthouse with sings reading, "No Bail No Bail."

In mid-August, the bodies of Maria Makgato, 47, and Lucia Ndlovu, 34, were found on the South African province of Limpopo, per The Associated Press , after another man who had been with them alerted local authorities. The women were reported missing on August 17.

It is the prosecutors' belief that the women trespassed onto the farm while looking for food in order to try and pick up possibly expired goods that had been dumped there by a dairy company's truck. It was while on the property authorities believe they were shot and killed.

A third individual who was with them at the time was allegedly also shot, per The AP, but managed to crawl to a nearby road and screamed for help. According to local news outlet TimesLive , when police returned, they found the bodies of the women decomposing in a pigsty.

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Authorities said that the remains of the women had been fed to the pig, per local outlet News24 .

"Both women sustained gunshot wounds and a 47-year-old foreign national man, who was with them, was also shot and hospitalized," Limpopo police spokesperson Brig Hlulani Mashaba said, per TimesLive. "Police investigations are ongoing."

"No-one has the right to take the law into their hands, no-one must just shoot and kill people, no matter the offense. [One] must allow police to do their work if you think these people are wrong," said Jossy Buthane of the African National Congress in Limpopo.

He adde that getting killed and thrown into a pigsty is "inhumane," per TimesLive, "That's horrific, it is a serious insult to human nature."

Magistrate Arshad Chaia said at their hearing that the three men will remain in custody until their next hearing, per JacarandaFM , which is scheduled for October 2.

Provincial police commissioner Thembi Hadebe, per News24, called it "one of the most disturbing and inhumane acts in our province, and we will ensure those responsible face the full might of the law."