Four men who allegedly threw a sacked farm worker into a lion enclosure were denied bail in a Limpopo court on Tuesday.
They had appeared in the Phalaborwa magistrate's court in connection with the death of Nelson Shisane, who was allegedly beaten at a game farm near Hoedspruit, then loaded onto a vehicle and thrown into the lion camp at Mokwalo White Lion Project 15km away.
The owner of the Engedi Game Farm, Mark Scott Crossley, together with three of his employees; Simon Mathebula, Richard Mathebula, and Robert Mnisi, face a charge of murder, and possibly defeating the ends of justice, police spokesperson Superintendent Ronel Otto said.
Shisane had reportedly been fired from the Engedi farm last year.
He was reported missing by his family on February 8, and a subsequent police investigation turned up a human skull, part of the victim's legs and pieces of clothing in the lion enclosure, Otto said.
Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana reacted "with outrage" to the incident.
"This type of action, and the type of people who perpetrate it, have no place in a democracy such as ours," the minister said on Tuesday.
Mdladlana said he had sent labour inspectors to the game farm to "vigorously pursue this case", and expressed his condolences to Shisane's family.
"Why should employers feed troublesome farmworkers to the lions?" said labour spokesperson Snuki Zikalala. "The labour laws do not allow that employers may harm their workers at all".
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) said it was shocked and appalled by the reports.
"While this incident is exceptionally brutal, the trade unions know that abuse of workers, ten years after the democratic breakthrough, is still rife. Many farmers still treat their workers as badly as under apartheid," a statement by Cosatu spokesman Patrick Craven said.
Cosatu welcomed the labour department's determination to crack down on abusive farm employees and would do "everything possible" to help the inspectors.
"It is clear however that hundreds of farmers are flouting these laws and the number of inspectors is limited. That is why we need a massive campaign, involving the government, trade unions and civil society, to make sure that these abuses are stopped and the law is enforced.
"The best tribute we can pay to the memory of Nelson Shisane is to make sure that never again do such atrocities take place on our farms," the statement read.
The four accused will appear in court again on February 17. - Sapa