White farmer jailed for murder in South Africa complains about being in prison with black inmates

One of the men implicated in the brutal killing of two women who were shot and fed to pigs on a Limpopo farm has complained about life in prison, claiming he is being threatened because he is “the only white inmate” among thousands of black prisoners.

In letters read aloud in the Polokwane High Court, 34-year-old Adrian Rudolph De Wet described his imprisonment as “unbearable” and said he lives in constant fear.

“Sometimes I wish I could not wake up,” De Wet wrote to his family. “My life in prison is not easy because I am mainly the only white person in the prison with other thousands of black inmates. There is one guy who protects me from inmates who try to r@pe or murd3r me.”

De Wet’s correspondence was presented in court during the ongoing trial of his employer, Zacharia Olivier, a pig farmer, and another worker, William Musora, a Zimbabwean national. The three men were charged with murder, attempted murder, and other offences following the deaths of Maria Makgato and Lucadia Ndlovu.

The two women were allegedly scavenging for expired food meant for Olivier’s pigs when they were shot and thrown into a pigsty.

De Wet has since turned state witness against Olivier and Musora. During Wednesday’s hearing, Olivier’s lawyer, Jacobus Venter, read from De Wet’s letters in an attempt to challenge his credibility and motives for testifying.

Prosecutors objected to what they described as selective quoting, prompting the presiding judge to order that the letters be read in full for context.

One section revealed remorse from De Wet over his role in the killings:

“There are people who want to see me dead in this prison. I wish we had listened to your advice. You warned us to stop shooting at the people who come to steal at the farm, but we never listened.”

The revelations have added another disturbing layer to a case that has horrified South Africans with its violence and racial undertones. The trial continues in the Polokwane High Court.