Ex Public Protector Thuli Madonsela Expresses Strong Take About Naming in Limpopo Farm Murders Case

• Former Public Protector Prof Thuli Madonsela added her voice to the alarm over the recent Limpopo pig farm murders
• Three men were arrested on 21 August for allegedly killing two women at Onverwacht farm and dumping them in a pigsty
• The trio appeared for a second time in court, with Madonsela calling for a blanket approach to naming suspects consistently

CAPE TOWN — Former public protector Prof Thuli Madonsela has come out swinging to add her voice on the development surrounding the Limpopo pig farm murder accused.

The case has been dominating the headlines since the discovery of the remains of two women in a pigsty on Tuesday, 20 August.

Ex-public protector Thuli Madonsela's strong take

Three men were arrested on suspicion of murder the following day.

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Farm owner Zachariah Olivier, 60, and his two employees, Adriaan de Wet, 19, and William Musoro, 45, first appeared in the Mankweng Magistrate's Court on 23 August.

The trio, appearing for a second time for a formal bail application on 30 August, face two murder and one attempted murder charges.

They also face additional charges of possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition, defeating the ends of justice, and, in the case of Musoro, contravening the immigration act.

The two victims — Mariah Makgato, a mother of four, and Zimbabwean national Lucia Ndlovu — had gone to the Onverwacht farm in the Thabazimbi Local Municipality on 17 August after a truck allegedly dumped expired or near-expired goods.

Makgato, 47, Ndlovu, 34, accompanied by Ndlovu's husband, allegedly trespassed onto the farm to collect the goods and were shot at.

However, Ndlovu's husband survived the incident.

The matter has again been postponed after the state requested time to consider the bail application.

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Since then, Madonsela, who kept a close eye on the proceedings, posted to X in response to a Newzroom Afrika feed, arguing against against the accused farmers allegedly not being consistently named across numerous reports.

Madonsela noted the International Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), elaborating:

"Why do the farmers who allegedly shot [and killed] and fed the two women to pigs have no names? In terms of ICERD, #RaceBasedViolence (RBV) is a racism and #SocialJustice matter. The media must consistently name all accused persons as permissible under [the] law."

Madonsela's assessment opened a can of worms, sparking a debate on the premise of her argument.

Onlookers add their two cents

Briefly News looks at a few of the colourful responses which flooded the post.

@FreedomNtlapo wrote:

"The next thing the judge or magistrate will grant them R1000 bail for such [a] crime."

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@mzosatula said:

"[The] media would always give the names of the alleged perpetrator. I thought it was not allowed."

@Mthidos expressed:

"Even the pics. Why are we only seeing images of the victims and not the perpetrators? We always see black on matters of crime."

Thuli Madonsela, Busisiwe Mkhwebane enter Miss SA fuss

In related news, Briefly News reported that Thuli Madonsela and her successor, now-ex-public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane, weighed in on the Miss South Africa (SA) 2024 debate.

It came as then-top 11 finalist Chidimma Onwe Adetshina continued to be under public scrutiny over her nationality.

Source: Briefly News