Limpopo pigsty murders: Police rubbish claims they were slow to respond

MANKWENG - Limpopo police say it’s not true that they were slow to respond to the murder case of two women whose remains were fed to pigs at a farm in the province.
 
Maria Makgato and Kudzai Ndlovu's bodies were found in a pigsty three days after they were reported missing in August. 
 
They were shot and killed after being accused of trespassing to look for dumped expired food. 

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The farm owner Zachariah Olivier and two of his employees, Adriaan De Wet and William Musora, were arrested in connection with the murders
 
They appeared in the Mankweng Magistrates Court on Tuesday, and their case has been postponed to October for a bail hearing.

Ndlovu’s partner, Mabatho Ncube, was with the women at the time of the incident and was also shot but survived and managed to alert the police before he was taken to hospital for treatment.
 
Speaking outside court on Tuesday, though, the Police Commissioner for the Capricorn District, Lesiba Mashilo, said that Ncube initially told officers the women had been assaulted. 
 
“They searched the outer perimeter of the farm because the gate was locked but there was no indication the people were shot at. The explanation that was delivered was to the effect they were assaulted. 

“If people are assaulted, not knowing the severity of the assault, you’d definitely think they might have moved from where they are and they went to the space, and they will come at the right time to open a case of assault.”
 
Mashilo said it was only when Makgatho’s son later reported her missing that the seriousness of the incident became evident.