The decomposing body of a man was found hanging in a tree on a Stutterheim farm near where a “sheep thief” apparently went missing recently.
King William's Town police spokesperson Captain Siphokazi Mawisa said on Monday that an inquest docket was opened following the discovery of the body on the 1,300ha Bare Acres farm, which is owned by Greg Miles.
In a twist, on February 13 a local man reported to police at the Bolo police station near Stutterheim that his brother, Odwa Maseti, had gone missing, apparently while they and three other men were stealing sheep at the Bare Acres Farm.
Mawisa reported at the time that a suspected sheep thief had gone missing in the “mist” at the farm.
She said: “The fact that the brother admitted [to being at Miles’s farm to steal sheep], the SAPS does not take that as a confession because there’s a formal procedure to be followed.”
As a result of the missing report, a police search which involved a helicopter, police sniffer dogs and stock theft unit searched Miles' farm for three days without success.
On Monday afternoon Miles called the Dispatch.
He said he was patrolling his farm looking for nine missing sheep when he spotted the man hanging from the tree.
“Something had been eating my sheep and my four workers and I were following prints when one of the guys saw a coat hanging.
“We went to take a closer look and saw the body.
“We think it's definitely the missing thief.”
The man who reported his brother missing was arrested by on February 21, along with three other men. They were charged with stock theft.
After the men had reported Maseti missing, Miles opened a case of theft of four sheep.
Four men aged 23 to 28 were arrested on February 21.
Odwa Maseti was reported missing on February 13, a week after he disappeared.
Farmers in the region have complained that they feel under siege from stock thieves in the region.
Miles said in 2018 he lost 60 sheep and his neighbour, George Viljoen of Prairie Farm, lost 20 in a plundering blitz over Christmas and New Year.
Farmer Ian Cawthorn said 40 of his sheep were stolen.
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