The Zimbabwean man who helped a farmer and fellow employee throw the bodies of two women into a pigsty after they were shot while scavenging for expired food claims he did so because it was an instruction from his boss and he felt compelled to follow it. This is what William Musora’s lawyer, Desmond Nonyane, stated at the Polokwane high court on Monday while cross-examining his client’s former colleague, Adrian Rudolph de Wet. Maria Makgatho and Lucadia Ndlovu were shot and killed in August 2024, allegedly by De Wet and farmer Zachariah Johannes Olivier.
The following day, Olivier allegedly told Musora and De Wet to help put their bodies in a pigsty where the pigs later ate parts of their bodies. The three men were later arrested, and De Wet has since turned state witness. Olivier and Musora have pleaded not guilty to murder.
He was instructed to carry the body, and he felt compelled to do so, as it was an instruction from his employer. De Wet had earlier testified that when Musora stumbled on the bodies of the women on the farm, he was not aware of the shootings that killed them. Nonyane put it to De Wet that his client did not know that he was helping the perpetrators of the crime in helping them to carry the bodies.
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De Wet agreed. “My client was not aware that he was actually helping the perpetrators, because you and accused number 1 [Olivier] had planned to pretend as if you knew nothing of the bodies,” said Nonyane. “He was instructed to carry the body, and he felt compelled to do so, as it was an instruction from his employer.” De Wet said Olivier had told him and Musora not to say anything about the bodies or to call the police, as he was still applying his mind on how to conceal the killings.
He said after disposing of the second body into the pigsty, the three men went their separate ways. Nonyane asked de Wet if, after they went their separate ways, he and Olivier had visited Musora at his place to make sure he had not called the police or told anyone about what happened.
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