“Why did he have to kill my child in such a brutal manner? Why did he not inform the police that people were trespassing on his farm?”
Those were the words of Moyahabo Mokgabo at the Polokwane high court on Tuesday, where the trial of Zachariah Johannes Olivier, 60, and co-accused William Musora, 50, accused of killing her daughter on a Limpopo farm and feeding her to pigs, entered its second day.
After they murdered my child, I am now struggling, as I do not work anywhere and am therefore unable to provide for my family
— Moyahabo Mokgabo, mother of victim
Speaking to Sowetan, Mokgabo said since the death of her daughter Maria Makgatho, she has been battling to take care of her household as well as her late daughter's children.
Maria was with Locadia Ndlovu scavenging for food when they were shot and thrown into a pigsty. Ndlovu's husband, Mabutho Ncube, survived the incident.
Mokgabo said she could not forgive those who took her child from her.
“After they murdered my child, I am now struggling, as I do not work anywhere and am therefore unable to provide for my family.”
“I cannot forgive them,” she said.
Olivier and Musora are charged with murder, attempted murder, employing an illegal immigrant who does not possess a work permit and the possession of an unlicensed firearm. They pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
Musora, a Zimbabwean national, faces a further charge of the contravention of the Immigration Act, as it has been established that he is in SA illegally.
The state has since withdrawn charges against another farmworker, Adrian de Wet, 19, who is now a state witness.
During proceedings, judge Jane Ngobeni informed the two men that should they be convicted of murder, they face life in prison. If they are first offenders, the sentence won't be less than 15 years.
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