The accused-turned-state witness in the Onverwacht pig farm double murder case, Rudolph de Wet, is continuing his testimony in the Limpopo High Court this week about the events of August 18 2024, when two women were shot and killed while scavenging for food—mainly expired dairy products.
Aim gun at trespassers
On Thursday last week, before proceedings were postponed to Wednesday, October 14, the 20-year-old De Wet told the court that accused number one, Zachariah Olivier, who owns the Sebayeng-based farm outside Polokwane, handed him a firearm and instructed him to “aim at trespassers”.
Olivier has since pleaded guilty to one count of possessing an unlicensed firearm.
Pleading guilty to offence
The alleged trespassers were later identified as Maria Makgatho (45) and Lucia Ndlovu (35), who were both fatally shot. Their bodies were later discovered buried in a pigsty on the property. A third victim, Mabutho Ncube, reportedly Ndlovu’s husband, managed to escape the gunfire.
When pressed by Prosecutor Advocate George Sekhukhune about the number of shots fired and his specific role in the events, De Wet testified that he fired three shots in the direction of the victims before Olivier allegedly also discharged his weapon.
Four days later, the decomposing bodies of Makgatho and Ndlovu were uncovered in the pigsty, triggering a murder investigation that shocked the community.
A day before De Wet took the stand, the court heard a heart-wrenching testimony from Makgatho’s 23-year-old son, Theo, who recalled waiting anxiously for his mother to return home that night—a return that never happened.
De Wet has since signed a Section 204 agreement, granting him immunity from prosecution in exchange for full cooperation with the State. He remains under protective custody.
In total, 22 witnesses are expected to testify, including investigating officers involved in the early stages of the case.
Olivier and his co-accused, William Musora, remain in custody as the trial continues.
