By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The case against three men accused of killing two women and feeding their bodies to pigs in Limpopo has been postponed pending appeal outcome.
Farm owner Zachariah Olivier and his two employees, Rudolph De Wet and Willian Musora, allegedly killed Maria Makgato and Lucia Ndlovu at Onvervaght farm in Sebayeng outside Polokwane in August.
The trio reappeared at the Polokwane Regional Court on Wednesday for a formal bail hearing.
They are facing charges of murder, attempted murder and defeating the ends of justice.
Musora is facing an additional immigration charge.
Defence attorney Muhammad Farouk Valjee, representing accused number two stepped up to offer legal aid to Musora.
This was after Musora’s previous lawyer withdrawn her services due to not having an order for the financial offering.
During the proceedings, the defence argued that the pending appeal was derailing court proceedings.
This was because, during previous court proceedings, the state initially refused to hand over a statement given by the first accused, Olivier.
However, the court overruled this decision and ordered the state to provide the statement.
The state was granted an opportunity to appeal the decision, seeking to overturn the court’s decision.
In the interim, the accused will remain remanded in custody pending their bail applications.
Magistrate Ntilane Felleng postponed the matter to 6 November to retrieve the appeal outcome for Olivier.
The matter has been postponed because of the pending decision which is the subject matter of one of the factors relating to this bail application,” said Felleng.
The matter was referred back to Mankweng Magistrate’s Court for further investigations.
“The DPP has issued a certificate of hearing the bail application in the regional court of Polokwane,” said NPA spokesperson Mashudu Malabi-Dzhangi.
“The DPP has been entitled to choose any forum. That is why this matter is being moved from Mankweng to Polokwane for bail hearing purposes then the matter after that it will be transferred to the High Court.”
Felleng said a new date for the bail applications would be made available by the state and defence should any new information come about at the Mankweng court.