Maria Makgatho, 45, and Lucia Ndlovu, 34, were fatally shot last August while looking for food in a pigsty on the property of farm owner Zachariah Johannes Olivier, 60. According to BBC, Makgatho and Ndlovu entered the farm after a dairy company dumped expired products there, unaware of the fatal consequences that awaited them.
When the women were discovered, they were shot to death. Ndlovu’s husband was also with the two women but he somehow managed to escape and went to the police. Olivier and his two employees, 20-year-old Adrien de Wet and 50-year-old William Musora are now on trial and have been charged with two counts of murder, attempted murder, three counts of defeating the ends of justice, and possession of firearms and ammunition, as reported by Atlanta Black Star.
During the trial, horrific details surfaced about how the bodies were disposed of. Adrien de Wet, a 20-year-old employee, testified under oath that Olivier forced him to throw the women’s bodies into a pig enclosure, allegedly as a means to destroy evidence.
De Wet, who broke down in tears, insisted he acted under duress, telling the court he was compelled to comply with his employer’s demands. Still, the public remained skeptical, with one critic responding, “No one is forced to do such a heinous thing,” and another dismissing the testimony as “Lies. Just trying to save himself.” Another person added, “Stupids if you believe this Monsters has nothing to do with the murders. I can tell he is pure evil not innocent but Murder. Put him in Jail forever”
Musora, who is a Zimbabwean national, is also facing immigration violations due to his undocumented status. Meanwhile, both Olivier and Musora have yet to issue formal pleas and are currently held in custody.
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It is important to note here that the murders follow a string of violent farm-related incidents, including another event last August in which a farmer and his assistant allegedly murdered two men they accused of sheep theft and attempted to burn their bodies.
In a separate, shocking act, a 70-year-old farmer was charged after he allegedly drove over a 6-year-old boy, breaking both his legs for purportedly stealing an orange.
2 Black women, Maria Makgato (45) and Lucia Ndlovu (34), were allegedly shot dead on a farm while collecting expired dairy products left out for pigs. Their bodies were then fed to those same animals in a horrific attempt to erase the evidence.https://t.co/ngatYXRg8g
— Chidi Odinkalu, CGoF (@ChidiOdinkalu) August 4, 2025
The topic of violence on farms has also drawn international attention, especially after the U.S. President Donald Trump wrongly suggested a widespread genocide targeting white South African farmers. However, official data tells a different story. According to South Africa’s State Department, less than 0.2 percent of the country’s nearly 20,000 murders last year took place on farms, claiming both Black and white victims.
