Farmer loses large part of income

 Farmer loses large part of income after lightning kills 21 cows

A North West farmer lost 21 cows after they were killed by lightning. Eleven of the cows were pregnant.The cows, worth around R260 000, were struck by lightning during heavy rain on Wednesday.

The owner of the cattle, Vincent Lobaleng, said 16 cows and five calves died at his Entry Farm near Morokweng.Lobaleng lives in Morokweng and visits the farm regularly to assist the helper, who lives on the farm and looks after the cattle full time.

Lobaleng's nephew, Thusoitsile Lobaleng, said the helper discovered the carcasses on Thursday evening.

"My uncle was fixing the fence at the farm on Thursday when he heard 10 of his cows mooing endlessly. He then asked our helper to find out what was wrong. The helper responded and said they were probably restless because they were separated from the other cows," said Thusoitsile.

He said his uncle didn't pay much attention to it and went home. He later received a call from the helper, who informed him that the cows had died.

"The helper said he tried to call my uncle as soon as he discovered the dead cows, but due to load shedding, there was no network, thus, he only found out in the evening," he added.

Thusoitsile said the cows were not insured.