A white landowner and two of his employees were brought before a court in Limpopo province today South Africaaccused of killing two black women and dumping the bodies in pigs, a case that shocked the entire country.

The three accused, Zachariah Olivier, 60, Adrian De Wet, 19, and William Musoro, 45, from Zimbabwe, were arrested after the two bodies were found, in a state of advanced decomposition, in the pigsty of a farm on August 20. Today the court was due to rule on their request to be released on parole, but the hearing was adjourned until September 10.

According to judicial authorities, the victims entered the farm illegally, but the exact motive for the murders has not been clarified.

Police began investigations after Maria Makgato, a 44-year-old woman who had gone to the farm on August 17, was reported missing. He was accompanied by the 35-year-old Zimbabwean Dlovu Inns. “The two women had gunshot wounds. A 47-year-old foreigner was also injured by bullets and is being treated,” the police announced. According to local media, this man is the younger woman’s husband and is also from Zimbabwe. He managed to escape and crawl to the nearest street.

Dozens of people demonstrated outside the city’s courthouse today Manquengrequesting that the accused not be released.

The killings shocked public opinion in a country with high crime rates – and the highest homicide rate in the world. Between April and June this year, 6,200 murders were recorded, a figure 0.5% lower than the same period last year, according to police statistics released today.