A calf's life was saved during an emergency operation after its mother was hacked on a Dargle farm in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands on Saturday.
The pregnant cow's back was cut open by five stock thieves, who pounced on the animal during the early hours of Saturday morning.
Magma Security and Investigations director Shaheen Suleiman told TimesLIVE on Monday that private security officers were patrolling the area due to the high rate of cattle theft when they spotted five men in a field on one of the farms.
"When they approached them, the men opened fire on the officers. The officers returned fire," he said.
One stock thief was shot dead. There were no other injuries.
Suleiman confirmed the calf was born during an emergency operation.
"The mother did not survive the attack," Suleiman said.
The DA's provincial spokesperson on agriculture and rural development, Chris Pappas, said the local farm watch organisation later found two bags "containing stock theft equipment, including knives and fence cutters".
He said the DA's repeated recommendations to the province’s agriculture MEC, Bongiwe Sithole-Moloi, to ensure that rural areas and farming communities are better protected had been ignored.
These measures include the establishment of rural safety units and a rural safety directorate within the provincial police as well as the provision of funding to establish a citizen band radio network.
