Zachariah Olivier will spend Christmas in prison

Olivier looked visibly emotional and shook his head as his bail application was adjourned.

It will be a dark Christmas and New Year for Limpopo farmer Zachariah Olivier, who is accused of murdering two women and dumping their bodies in a pigsty after his bail application was deferred to next year.

Olivier, 62, was expected to apply for bail in the Polokwane District Court on Friday.

Gloomy celebration for pig farm murder suspects

Olivier looked visibly agitated and shook his head as referee Nthilan Felleng announced the adjournment.

This means Olivier will spend Christmas and New Year behind bars.

Watch: An emotional Zachariah Olivier listens as his case is postponed

National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) regional spokesman Mashudu Malabi Jangi said the case could not proceed due to the absence of a lawyer who was supposed to hear the bail application on behalf of the defence.

The case was adjourned until February 18, 2025, for Olivier to join two other accused, Rudolf de Wet and William Musora, in the Mankweng Magistrates Court.

ALSO READ: Limpopo pigsty murders: two accused refused bail

Deposit left

Earlier this month, De Wet and Musora refused bail.

In October, lawyer Muhammad Farooq Walji, representing accused number two, offered legal assistance to Musoro after his previous lawyer refused her services due to the lack of an order for the financial proposal.

Olivier, De Wet and Musora are accused of killing Maria Makgatho and Lucia Ndlovu before dumping their bodies in a pigsty at Onverwacht Farm in Sebaenga near Polokwane in August.

Several charges

The trio are facing multiple charges, including two counts of premeditated murder, attempted murder, possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition, and defeating the ends of justice.

Mushora, a Zimbabwean national, faces an additional charge of violating the Immigration Act.

The State’s case is that Makgatho and Ndlovu went to the farm to collect expired food that the pigs were eating.

They were then allegedly shot and their bodies thrown into a pigsty, where their bodies were eaten by animals.

ALSO READ: Police minister calls for ‘no leniency justice’ for Limpopo women found dead in pigsty