Community members demand men charged with murder of two Limpopo women ‘rot in jail’

JOHANNESBURG - Hundreds of angry community members gathered outside the Mankweng Magistrates Court in Limpopo on Friday, calling for the men charged with the murder of two women whose bodies were found in a pigsty to "rot in jail”.

Maria Makgato and Kudzai Ndlovu's remains were found at a pig farm just outside the Limpopo town last week.

Farm owner Zachariah Olivier and two of his staff, Adriaan De Wet and William Musoro, were subsequently arrested and are set to apply for bail on Friday.

Local councillor Rufus Muthabeni said the community is shocked.

“You know, it’s terrible and the community are not happy at all. That’s why you see a lot of people are here and a lot of political parties are here. They are here to protest that those people must rot in jail because what they did is terrible, and it is unacceptable in South Africa."

Meanwhile, the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) said there was still a way to go to realise real liberation, after the shocking discovery of the two women’s bodies.

The commission’s Sandra Makwasha:

"The SAHRC, duly mandated by the constitution to promote, monitor and observe the adherence of human rights, is here because this essentially speaks to the violation of human rights in the killing of the victims but also in how their bodies were disposed of. It takes away their dignity as humans, even in their passing.

Makwasha said the incident shines a spotlight on the work they still have to do as the commission.

"It says that we have not, despite 30 years of democracy, despite celebrating Women’s Month, we have not really achieved economic and socio-economic liberation for our people and the work needs to be done by the HRC to ensure people know what their rights are."