A man from Cathcart in the Eastern Cape could not believe his eyes when he had found 18 corpses of his sheep gutted and hung on a barbed wire fence on Tuesday morning last week.

The intruders left only two sheep alive, however, they cut off the tendons on their hind legs to prevent the animals from escaping.

According to the owner of the farm, the fact that the thieves did not take the carcasses with them suggests that something went wrong.

“They gutted them and took out the intestines. They were obviously disturbed, because otherwise they wouldn’t have left the carcasses. Some people are saying it was an act of revenge, but I have no reason to think so. I have a good relationship with my staff. This is the work of a syndicate that is operating in the area,” he said.

“It’s horrific. But the worst is that this sort of thing happens on a weekly basis. It’s not the first time I’ve been affected. I had 20 sheep stolen in May. But stock theft happens along the N6 on a weekly basis. It’s an ongoing problem. We fear it’s going to get worse as we get closer to the festive season,” the man concluded.