When the animal is skinned, sometimes it gets too close, and leaves a little “nick” in the hide. This is known as a “Patch”.
The Patch is then fixed by using sheep skin, as it is soft and almost exactly like the nguni hide. We also find another hide that has the same colouring as the original one, and cut a piece of it out and use it in the Patch to create a “Perfect Fix”.
The Patch is then perfectly fixed in the front, and it looks as if there was never any imperfection at all in the hide.