A bull due to be slaughtered for a funeral in Philippi East ran amok and gored a 10-year-old boy to death.
|||Cape Town - A bull due to be slaughtered for a funeral in Philippi East ran amok and gored a 10-year-old boy to death.
Ayanda Mfenku, a Grade 3 pupil at Faku Primary School in Philippi East, was attacked by the bull while standing in his yard on Sunday morning.
The bull had been bought from a Lansdowne farmer by the Ntandiso family to be part of the funeral ritual for Jackson Ntandiso, 58, the family’s father, who died last week.
As the bull was being unloaded from the farmer’s bakkie at about 9am on Sunday, it broke loose.
“People tried to control it, but it became more aggressive,” said Yandiso Ntandiso, Jackson Ntandiso’s daughter. “The raging bull shoved and injured an old man who was trying to force it into the yard, and it ran off frantically down the street, knocking over everyone who tried getting close to it.
“As it ran down the street people moved out of the way and shouted for kids and drunken people to get out of its way.”
About 500m from the Ntandiso’s house, Ayanda was standing in his yard near a low brick wall with an older friend. Ayanda’s grandmother Dora Mfenku was in bed when she heard a commotion outside. She heard people calling out to her and calling her grandson’s name.
“I quickly jumped out of bed to see my grandson lying helplessly across the road and a bull in my yard.”
Ayanda’s friend told Dora Mfenku that when he saw the bull galloping towards them he had run away, but Ayanda was not quick enough.
The bull gored him in the back and threw him against the wall. It then picked him up and threw him against the wall again. The friend grabbed Ayanda and dragged him across the road to the far side, where his grandmother found him.
The bull had collapsed in the yard.
“When I got outside, I saw the bull lying there and people started yelling for me not to pass it, but I thought I had to get my child,” said Dora. She managed to pass the bull safely and picked up her grandson. A neighbour took them to a hospital in Mitchells Plain where Ayanda died on arrival.
When the Argus visited the family on Monday Ayanda’s mother, Nwabisa Mfenku, sat on the couch in silence. Dora said Ayanda was her eldest child and only son. “He was our everything, a child that touched many lives with his jokes and insight… We will always miss him, our soldier.”
Residents said that after Dora and Ayanda had left for the hospital the bull lay in the yard. They called the farmer who had sold it to the Ntandiso family for R6 000, “but he said there was nothing he could do about it”.
Hours later residents called the police who informed the Cape of Good Hope SPCA about the animal. It was collected at about 6pm, but died, presumably of stress and shock, overnight, according to Lamees Martin of the SPCA.
The bull cannot now be used as part of the funeral because a live bull is needed for the ritual.
* This year in Empangeni Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa’s uncle, Alamu Mthethwa, died after he fell and was repeatedly trampled by a raging cow. The Mthethwa family was preparing to slaughter three cows for the funeral of a relative.
The SPCA advises:
The Cape of Good Hope SPCA has issued guidelines on how to handle and slaughter animals according to the Animal Protection Act.
* Animals must be provided with water, food and shelter.
* Appropriate transportation should be used - animals should not be crammed in car boots or tethered on their sides using baling twine around the legs.
* Do not drag animals by the legs and horns.
* If ropes are used, use them properly and humanely to restrain the animal. It should be slaughtered as soon as it is down.
* Make sure that the jugular and carotid vessels are cut. The cut must be quick, clean, deep and swift. This is imperative to allow a quick blood loss resulting in loss of consciousness and death.
* The spinal cord must not be cut or severed. No dressing of the carcass is permissible until the flow of blood has stopped and all signs of life have ceased; this takes about eight minutes for cattle and six minutes for sheep and goats.
* The SPCA encourages pre-stunning of all animals before slaughter and hopes this will become the norm, rather than the exception.
* The Cape of Good Hope SPCA has appealed to people who wish to perform slaughters at their homes to ensure that animals are slaughtered humanely by an experienced person.
For advice or help call the SPCA Inspectorate at 021 700 4158/59 or 083 326 1604 after hours and on weekends.
zodidi.dano@inl.co.za
Cadet News Agency
Cape Argus
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