The South African agricultural worker says that he was forced to feed women with pigs

A white South African agricultural worker accused of having killed two black women says that he was forced to feed their bodies with pigs, according to lawyers.

Adrian de Wet is one of the three men faced with accusations of murder after Maria Makgato, 45, and Lucia Ndlovu, 34, were killed while they are looking for food on a farm near Polokwane in the province of North Limpopo in South Africa last year.

Their bodies would then have been given to the pigs in an apparent attempt to have proof.

Mr. de Wet, 20, was a witness to the state when the trial began on Monday and said that the owner of the Zachariah Johannes farm Olivier has shot the two women.

Mr. de Wet, a farm supervisor, will testify that he was under stress when he was forced to throw the victims’ bodies in the pork, according to the accusation.

If the court accepts his testimony, all the charges against him will be abandoned.

The case aroused indignation through South Africa, exacerbating racial tensions in the country.

Such a tension is particularly widespread in rural areas, despite the end of the racist apartheid system over 30 years ago. Most private agricultural land remain in the hands of the white minority, while most agricultural workers are black and poorly paid, fueling resentment among the black population, while many white farmers complain of high crime rate.

William Musora, 50, another agricultural worker, is the third accused. He and Mr. Olivier, 60, must not yet plead and remain behind bars after the failure of their deposit requests.

The three men are also confronted with accusations of attempted murder for having shot the husband of Mrs. Ndlovu, who was with the women of the farm – as well as the possession of a firearm without license and beating the end of justice.

Mr. Musora, a Zimbabwean national, faces an additional accusation under the Immigration Act in South Africa on his illegal immigrant status.

The High Court of Limpopo was filled with supporters and relatives of the victims before the procedure.

The members of the Economic Freedom Fighters opposition party, who previously requested that the farm be closed, were also present in the courtroom.

The trial has been postponed to next week.