Family wants to sue Polokwane farmer arrested for 'killing two women and dumping their bodies in pigsty'

The family of a woman whose decomposed body was found with a gunshot wound in a pigsty on a farm outside Polokwane wants to sue the farmer. 

Walter Mathole, whose elder sister Maria Makgato was among the victims who were allegedly shot by a farmer before throwing their bodies into a pigsty, told TimesLIVE Premium that her sister's killers should face the law and also pay to maintain her children.  

Mathole's family spent the entire weekend looking for her sister, who went missing on Saturday, hoping to find her alive. 

"We want to sue the farmer to look after my sister's children. He [allegedly] killed her, and she was a single mother with four children. I am the last-born at home and a breadwinner looking after our mother, but now I have to look after my sister's children as well," he said. 

Mathole said Makgato's youngest child was still in preschool, adding that children need their mother's love.

He said his eldest nephew called him at about 3am on Wednesday. He complained that he could not sleep and felt as if his mother was still alive. 

Mathole and his nephew visited the scene when the police were still gathering evidence, and went through the horrific experience of watching them remove his sister's body from the pigsty. 

Mathole said he learnt that his sister was missing on Sunday morning, when his nephew called him. At the time he did not expect anything like this had happened. He advised his nephew to start searching at the hospital in Polokwane. If he wouldn't find her, he advised he should go to register a missing-person case at the Polokwane police station.

"He [nephew] said since his mother left on Saturday afternoon, she hasn't returned. I asked what happened, he said there was a place they would go collect yoghurts [expired and about to be dumped].

"I asked why she didn’t come back, he said the people who went with her said they heard multiple gunshots but couldn't explain what happened," said Mathole.   

On Monday, while still anticipating Makgato would return home, the family went to Solomondale police station to open the case but were told someone had already opened a case similar to theirs. This was when they learnt of the other woman who was fatally shot and a man who survived the tragedy.

They then went to Mankweng to open the missing-person case. "This is when we learnt that there were three people shot and the man managed to run away. I think after the man [allegedly] shot them, he started chasing the man who fled," said Mathole. 

The most painful thing is that after finding those people in the pigsty, the farm should have been closed because those pigs are feeding on humans. Are they going to sell them, what is going to happen?

—  Walter Mathole, brother of Maria Makgato

He said they learnt that the injured man managed to find help outside the farm. He called for an ambulance, and when he was admitted to hospital he mentioned that his wife and the other women had been shot on the farm.

"When we arrived at the farm on Tuesday, we tried to ask the police what had happened before we were allowed inside. I asked, why are you [police] saying they were eaten by pigs?Can a person be eaten by pigs from Saturday until Tuesday?  

"It seems like they even gave them to dogs first after the [injured] man ran away because these farmers are dangerous. Maybe they wanted to give them to dogs," he said.

"The most painful thing is that after finding those people in the pigsty, the farm should have been closed because those pigs are feeding on humans. Are they going to sell them? What is going to happen?" he asked. 

Mathole said he was so worried about his sister's first-born son that he would step in to take care of him. He said these were incidents that drove young people to crime in the hope of providing for their families.

"The only thing I could remember saying to myself after seeing those bodies and the state they were in, I could only ask why my sister left us like this."

Jossey Buthane from the ANC in Limpopo said the incident invoked anger and condemnation because no matter what the circumstances, to be killed and thrown into a pigsty “is inhumane”.

Limpopo police have since arrested the farmer, 60, and an employee, 19. The suspects are charged with two counts of murder and attempted murder. They are expected to appear at Mankweng magistrate's court on Friday.

Limpopo police spokesperson Brig Hlulani Mashaba said they arrested the two on Wednesday after a 45-year-old woman who disappeared after visiting the farm on Saturday was reported missing. 

“A search revealed the missing woman's body and another body, of a 35-year-old foreign woman, both with gunshot wounds. A 47-year-old foreign man, who was with the victims, was also shot and hospitalised,” he said. 

Provincial police commissioner Lt-Gen Thembi Hadebe commended the police for the swift arrest of two suspects. “This is one of the most disturbing and inhumane acts in our province, and we will ensure those responsible face the full might of the law,” she said.

Limpopo EFF chairperson Lawrence Mapoulo said the incident resembled what happened to Nelson Chisale, who was murdered in 2004 and whose body was thrown into the lion's den in Hoedspruit, Limpopo. 

"We are calling for a no bail for such satanic behaviour. We have seen as black people in South Africa we are not treated as humans. We are seen as animals who can be killed and be thrown in a pigsty," he said. 

He added that the incident was very concerning and saddened them. "It is the very same thing that happened to Chisale. We need to expropriate those farms," he said

The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) in Limpopo declined to comment, saying it was too early and they needed to establish all the facts.  

“We are still trying to find out all the elements of human rights violations and are still conducting our investigations, so it will be premature for us to talk about the case even before the court appearance,” said SAHRC spokesperson Victor Mavhidula.