Eight-year-old tigress Sheba has been on a killing spree since escaping from a smallholding on the Walkers Fruit Farm in Midvaal, south of Johannesburg, on Friday evening.
Housewife Flora Maseko, 49, on Monday told TimesLIVE Premium she came face-to-face with the predator shortly after it mauled her neighbour, William Mokoena.
Mokoena narrowly escaped the deadly jaws on Saturday night when the tigress pounced on him after he left home.
At about 10pm wails of agony came from a pathway near their homes.
“William was on his way out, walking along a path just nearby, and the tiger pounced on him. We heard him screaming for help. I rushed outside behind my partner, who stopped me and said I must go back inside, but I told him I couldn't let him go alone,” she said.
Maseko said they found William lying down.
“He said the tiger attacked him. It had bitten him on his left foot and right thigh. We carried him back to our home and gave him some water. He was in too much pain, so we called one of the farmers, who came and took him to hospital.”
But that was not the end of the cat’s reign of terror.
In the early hours of Sunday morning Sheba returned with a vengeance, attacking Maseko’s brother’s dog.
“We heard the dog barking, then it began yelping. We rushed outside and saw the tiger attacking the dog. We had torches, and I started shouting ‘voetsek, voetsek!’ I was petrified, just looking at the size of the animal, I was gripped by fear, but I thought if we die, we should all die together because it cannot kill us all.”
After an assessment by the SPCA, a decision was taken to euthanise the dog based on the extent of injuries to its ribs and shoulders.
While Maseko managed to scare Sheba off, she fears the predator may return.
“This animal now has a taste for blood. It has been killing for fun. It needs to be caught,” she said.
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Sheba's killing spree has resulted in the death of two dogs, one fallow deer and a pig, killed on Sunday.
The flimsy wire fence was allegedly cut by perpetrators on Friday night, allowing Sheba to make her escape. Its security has been questioned by fearful community members.
One community member alleged it was not the first time the tigress had escaped.
“I know the owner. He told me this was not the first time she escaped, and it had become a problem as the animal is now rogue.”
The owner of the tiger, Rassie Erasmus, refused to be interviewed. He threatened journalists outside his premises on Monday and warned them not to take a picture of him.
Erasmus could be seen driving the along the dirt roads in his vehicle with his pet parrot on his shoulder, scouring the thicket for any sign of his rogue cat.
Gresham Mandy, Walkers Fruit Farm community policing forum member, said Erasmus had two tigers on his property.
“He has another tiger — a male named Tyson — who is probably the same age as Sheba. They were both raised by him on his farm.”
Meanwhile, members of the special task force have been deployed to help track the cat.
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