‘Pigs didn't consume human remains’: Steenhuisen on Limpopo farm murders

Agriculture minister John Steenhuisen says Maria Makgato and Lucia Ndlovu, who were killed and their bodies found in a pigsty at a farm in Limpopo, were not eaten by the animals. 

Makgato and Ndlovu were killed in August in Sebayeng, outside Mankweng.

In a question-and-answer session in parliament, Steenhuisen said postmortems conducted on the corpses revealed the pigs did not eat the human remains. EFF MP Leigh-Ann Mathys had asked him whether the pigs were sold for human consumption.

“The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals undertook an investigation to determine if there was any cruelty to animals. It was established the deceased were thrown into the pig enclosure, but the police investigation and postmortems conducted on the corpses revealed the pigs did not consume the human remains,” Steenhuisen said.

He said the pigs were killed.

“The pigs in the informal enclosure were shot and not made available for sale for human consumption. The farm was informal and the department is not able to provide any list of companies and regular customers, or dates of any customers purchasing from the property or any other details.”

Farmer Zachariah Olivier, 60, and his employees Rudolph de Wet, 19, and William Musora, 45, were arrested and charged with two counts of murder, attempted murder, defeating the ends of justice, and illegal possession of firearms and ammunition.

The murder case investigations continue.

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