An elderly couple was stabbed and beaten to death on their smallholding near Swartberg in KwaZulu-Natal on Friday night, police said.

Superintendent Zandra Hechter said Raymond and Yvonne Fitch, both in their late 70s, were found by a family member on Saturday morning.

The family member was alerted by a worker who noticed that a door and windows of the house had been broken.

The couple had been stabbed and beaten, Hechter said.

The house was ransacked and a Mercedes Benz stolen, which was later recovered near Matatiele.

Police were still trying to ascertain what was taken from the house.

Swartberg is near Kokstad. - Sapa