A farm worker was killed by lightning on a farm rented by Gerrie Gerrits.

Raisse Johan Panja (26) was in the veld on Friday with three other workers when a storm broke out.

Due to a spate of livestock thefts in Mpumalanga, Gerrits’s cattle are herded into a kraal in the evenings, where they are guarded.

At approximately 16:00, four farm workers, including Panja, were gathering the cattle.

When it began to rain and the storm intensified, all four ran towards a nearby bush.

Panja was leaning against a tree that was struck by a bolt of lightning.

The force of the strike also knocked the other three workers off their feet, though they sustained no injuries.

“He was such a good worker; I had called him just the previous evening to ask if it had rained on the farm,” said Gerrits, who is also the owner of the Pienaardam Resort.

The farm where the incident occurred is located near the old Witbank Dam. Years ago, an Ernie Els golf development was planned for the land, but it never materialised.

South Africa faces high lightning mortality

According to researchers and the University of the Witwatersrand, the number of lightning-related deaths in South Africa is estimated at between 100 and 140 people per year. However, the exact number of deaths is unknown, as victims are sometimes found in open fields with no obvious cause of death.

South Africa is considered one of the countries with a high number of lightning-related deaths each year.

Five years ago, 42 cattle were struck dead by lightning in a single night on two farms in the Middelburg district.

Panja will be formally identified by his family tomorrow morning (October 20), after which his body will be prepared for repatriation to Mozambique.