A Free State farmer found himself on the gruesome scene on Sunday morning, where 25 of his ewes’ heads were cut off at night.
Petroné, Christiaan Scheepers’ wife, says they stay in peace for their own safety and that her husband drives out every morning to the farm to take care of the farm.
“Fortunately there was no one on the farm that night otherwise we were just part of the statistics,” she says.
On Sunday morning, Scheepers first went to look at his cattle herd and when he arrived at the farmyard he saw that the bakkie had been stolen and 25 teal tails were all cut off.
They used the barn in which the ewes sleep to serve as abattoirs, Petroné says.
The ewes’ lambs bled incessantly.
“All that is left of our breeding herd are the heads and pens.”
The thieves also stole a lot of tools and the house was looted.
“They cut to the living room furniture,” she says.
“I believe racism played a role in the devastation on our farm.
“The ewes were all our breeding ewes, there are now 20 lambs to be raised by hand.”
She says the gang also filled the farm trunk with diesel before they left.
We don’t even know what everything was stolen, she says.
She says the area between Peace, Memel and Standerton regularly runs under stock thieves and crime is a major problem on farms here.
Petroné said police investigated the scene but said the thieves all wore gloves and there were no fingerprints.
Brig. Police spokesperson Motantsi Makhele confirmed the incident and said a special investigation team had been appointed to investigate the stock theft.
He is also investigating charges of burglary and vehicle theft.
