Ex-premier faces cruelty probe

AMONG animal welfare workers it has become known as the "little farm of horrors" – a place where the stench of decay hangs as they work to save what still lives.

The smell comes from a sty where the carcasses of 53 pigs lie rotting in their pens. There are more carcasses, 19 sheep and goats, a goose and seven chickens, scattered across Danmel, the North West province farm owned by top politician Thandi Modise.

They died from starvation and thirst, National Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NSPCA) staff say. The pigs, in an effort to survive, turned to cannibalism, eating the dead, and foetuses. None of the pigs could be saved.

Modise, the National Council of Province's (NCOP) chairwoman, is now facing criminal charges over the neglect that happened on the farm near Parys.

NSPCA inspector Andries Ventersaid Modise was facing five charges related to animal cruelty.

"These include one charge for causing starvation, one for not providing veterinary treatment, one for not providing shelter, one for being the owner of the property, and one for pure neglect," he explained.

In a statement yesterday, Modise indicated she would cooperate with the investigation, saying she was "saddened by the abandonment and trauma the livestock suffered after workers employed on the farm unceremoniously left without notice".

But, she added, "the suffering the animals endured does not compare to the financial loss I suffered".

Some NSPCA staff said it was the worst neglect they had seen.

"What is different is the number of species affected. Just how can someone walk away from this?" Venter asked.

The NSPCA first went to the farm on Saturday after a vet in the area told them he had heard of animal abuse happening on the farm. For two days, NSPCA staff members saved the animals they could and euthanased those they could not.

Day three of the operation yesterday concentrated on moving sheep and goats to places of safety.

As staff were loading the animals onto a trailer, goats, a man, Slim Mogale, who claimed to be Modise's cousin, tried to stop the livestock from leaving. He only backed down when threatened with arrest.

Mogale said he had been sent by Modise from Cape Town to deal with the problem and that he had last been to the farm a month before, when he dropped off feed. Everything was fine then, he claimed.

Modise bought the farm four years ago, and had plans to retire there, he said.

He blamed the farm manager and workers whom he said had disappeared and whom he suspected had stolen a TV from the house.

In her statement, Modise said the farm was under the supervision of a replacement manager as her regular farm manager had requested leave two weeks ago to attend to family business. "I had for the past three years visited the farm on a fortnightly basis and took personal interest as to what was happening [there] and in my absence made necessary arrangements for the livestock to be well looked after and fed until this tragic and unfortunate incident," she said.

"It came as a shock that I learnt of the desertion from the SPCA," the former North West premier said.

Modise has appointed vets to assess the health condition of the remaining animals on the farm.

An interim farm manager has also been appointed.

Modise has also appointed a legal team to investigate who cut off water and electricity to the property.

This has now been restored. - Shaun Smillie