The case of two black women allegedly shot and fed to pigs by a white farmer and two of his workers has sparked outrage in South Africa.
Maria Makgato, 45, and Lucia Ndlovu, 34, were reportedly looking for food at the farm near Polokwane in South Africa’s northern Limpopo province in August when they were shot.
It was then claimed that their bodies had been given to pigs in an apparent attempt to get rid of the evidence.
A court must now decide whether bail should be granted to farm owner Zachariah Johannes Olivier, 60, and his employees Adrian de Wet, 19, and William Musora, 50, ahead of their murder trial.
The three men have not yet been asked to enter a plea in court, which will happen when the trial begins at a later date.
During previous hearings, protesters demonstrated outside the court demanding that the suspects be denied bail.
Ms Makgato’s brother Walter Mathole told the BBC that the incident had further exacerbated racial tensions between black and white people in South Africa.
This is particularly widespread in the country’s rural areas, despite the end of the racist apartheid system thirty years ago.
The three men before the Polokwane court are also charged with attempted murder for shooting Ms Ndlovu’s husband, who was with the women on the farm, and for possessing an unlicensed firearm.
Mabutho Ncube survived the ordeal on Saturday evening, August 17, crawling away and managing to call a doctor for help.
He says he reported the incident to police and officers found the decomposing bodies of his wife and Mrs Makgato in the pigsty several days later.
Mr Mathole said he was with officers and saw a gruesome sight in the pigpen: his sister’s body, partially eaten by the animals.
The group had reportedly gone to the farm in search of edible food from batches of produce that had recently expired or would soon expire. These were sometimes left on the farm and given to the pigs.
Ms Makgato’s family say they are devastated by her murder, especially her four sons, aged between 22 and five.
“My mother died a painful death, she was a loving mother who did everything for us. Thanks to her, we lacked nothing,” Ranti Makgato, the eldest of her sons, told the BBC in tears.
“I think I will sleep better at night if the alleged murderers are denied bail,” he added.
The opposition Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party has said the farm should be closed.
“The EFF cannot stand by while products from this farm continue to be sold because they pose a danger to consumers,” it said after the bodies were found.
The South African Human Rights Commission has condemned the killings and called for anti-racism mediators among the affected communities.
Groups representing farmers, who are often white, say farming communities feel under attack in a country with a high crime rate — even though there is no evidence farmers are at greater risk than anyone else.
There have been two other incidents recently that have increased racial tensions.
In the eastern province of Mpumalanga, a farmer and his security guard were arrested in August for the alleged murder of two men on a farm in Laersdrift near the small town of Middleburg.
It is claimed the two men, whose bodies were burned beyond recognition, were accused of stealing sheep.
The suspects remain in custody while the ash undergoes DNA analysis.
The most recent case involves a 70-year-old white farmer who allegedly ran over a six-year-old boy, breaking both his legs, because he stole an orange on his farm.
The bail hearing for Christoffel Stoman, from Lutzville in the Western Cape Province, is underway.
The court heard that mother and son walked past the farm as they headed into town to do some shopping.
It is claimed the six-year-old stopped to pick up an orange that was on the ground – and the mother watched in horror as the farmer allegedly mowed him down.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said the farmer faced two counts of attempted murder and reckless driving.
NPA spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila told the BBC that the state opposed the suspect’s application for bail.
Two political parties – the African Transformation Movement and the Pan Africanist Congress – are calling for the expropriation of Mr Stoman’s farm following the incident.
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