MBOMBELA – Road users are outraged that little has been done to curb the issue of stray cattle on the city’s roads. This is after a cow caused two accidents on the N4 near Mataffin on Thursday night. Lowvelder has repeatedly reported how the cattle disrupt traffic, often causing accidents.
In the latest incident on Thursday at around 18:00, Pieter Louw was driving on the dimly lit road towards Mbombela when a cow ran out of the bush right into his bakkie.
“The area is very dark and not safe and I drove directly to the police station to report it,” Louw said.
Another motorist came across the injured cow lying in the road. She requested to remain anonymous. She said she was lucky to have seen the animal. She stopped on the side of the road and switched on her headlights to warn other motorists about the cow. She also immediately phoned Hi-Tech Security.
READ ALSO: Cattle are disrupting traffic on the N4
While she was sitting there she saw a passing bakkie narrowly avoid hitting the animal. However, soon afterwards, an ice cream van hit the cow.
“My eight-year-old granddaughter and I saw the accident happen. We were absolutely horrified,” she said.
According to Hi-Tech Medical’s assistant manager Strini Ramea, their team was deployed to the scene. He said the driver sustained minor injuries. “There were bruises and abrasions to his right arm and hand as well as his forehead, and he was transported to Rob Ferreira Hospital,” Ramea said.
The witness said the truck was destroyed. According to police spokesman, Lt Col Erhard Stroh, both accidents were reported to the police and they rushed out to the second accident scene. An accident report is being compiled.
News of the accident reached the Nelspruit SPCA, but when they arrived, the cow was already dead.
“Community members pulled it off the road. We can confirm that it was a cow from Matsefeni Trust,” said SPCA vice-chairman, Ludi Botha.
According to him, it is not the responsibility of the SPCA to ensure that livestock wandering onto roads be kept safe, as they are not a livestock pound. “At this stage Mbombela does not have a livestock pound. Even though we do not always have the necessary tools to do the job, we do attend to livestock and if the cow was still alive when we arrived at the scene we would have transported it to a vet,” Botha said.
READ ALSO: No one claims wandering cattle
Terry Mdluli, spokesman for the Matsafeni Mdluli Farms management said they were doing what they could to keep the cattle off the road.
“Cattle do not belong to Matsafeni, Trust, but to individuals living in the community,” he said “We have told them that they must not neglect their cattle and make sure that they have someone looking after them at all times. We have tried our best to warn them, because we know how dangerous it is for the cattle to walk around.”
TRAC spokesman, Solange Soares-Nicholson, said the road does not belong to them but to the municipality. “It is not our responsibility to take care of livestock but the responsibility of the owners. “We have previously tried to put up fences in other areas but they get damaged or stolen,” Soares-Nicholson said.
She added that they have erected signs to warn drivers.
TRAC also makes use of Twitter and SMSes to warn motorists.
Soares-Nicholson said they had tried to speak to the municipality about creating a pound about two years ago, but those negotiations also led to nothing.
“At Nkomazi we have employed cyclists to chase away the cattle from the road but ultimately this is not our responsibility,” she added.
City of Mbombela spokesman, Joseph Ngala, said they have issued many notices to the owners of livestock, “but going forward I am sad that these notices are not working. Maybe fines should be issued by the Department of Agriculture or by the traffic department”. He confirmed that the city does not have a pound, but that it was not the responsibility of the municipality.
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