UPDATE: Cattle hacked with homemade tool

Mduduzi Dhlamini (78) made the horrific discovery after going in search of his cattle, some of which had gone missing the day before.

He received information that two men were selling meat from a wheelbarrow in Slovo Park, and set off to investigate.

The two men, accompanied by three others, took Mduduzi to the area where they had slaughtered two of his cows.

When he saw the rest of his herd in a nearby trench, hacked at their shins, he was devastated.

Mduduzi says the herd was his only means of providing for his family and the memories of the animals’ suffering will always haunt him.

When the men realised they were dealing with the cattle’s owner, they tried to run away.

Mduduzi and his friends managed to catch four of the men.

Police were called and the men were arrested on charges of theft and malicious damage to property.

When Springs SPCA inspector Liezel Kruger arrived at the scene she was horrified at what she saw.

She explains the men chased the cattle into an area where they could not escape, and while running around helplessly, they were hacked at with a homemade tool.

“They slaughtered two cows alive and left the others in agony,” she says.

Liezel believes one of the cows, which was pregnant, died due to pain and suffering.

Six cows awaited their fate and had to be shot on the scene by Liezel and Esrom Maluka, a meat inspector from Farmers Meat Abattoir.

Esrom says nothing could be done to help the cows as they would never have been able to walk again.

The carcasses were taken to a nearby abattoir for investigation.

Mduduzi estimates the value of the slaughtered cattle to be about R64 000.

Esrom, however, claims it is C-grade meat and only R30 000.

According to Farmers Meat Abattoir manager Lood du Preez, the current price for A-grade cattle is approximately R8 500, and R3 500 for C-grade.

The abattoir is waiting for a potential buyer from Johannesburg before they can pay Mduduzi, as per their arrangement with him.