FOLLOW UP: Son of dog attack victim in Secunda speaks up

Domestic worker Tryphinah Mngumezulu (65) was mauled to death by dogs at her employer’s house in Secunda on March 2.

The attack by the six Belgian Malinois was captured on CCTV footage. Tryphinah was a full-time cleaner at a private preschool in Secunda during the week and worked one weekend a month for the owners of the dogs.

Her son, Class Mngumezulu, said his mother worked for the family for 14 years and got along well with the dogs and the family.

“She often took care of the dogs and the family’s children and even went with them on holiday,” said Class.

“I do not know what happened on the day of her death, but it is not like my mother to hit the dogs for no reason. She loved animals, especially dogs, and even planned on adopting a puppy,” explained Class.

According to Constable Busi Mthethwa, police spokesperson, the family’s 10-year-old daughter and Tryphinah were alone at home at the time of the attack.

The little girl found her caretaker’s body in the yard at about 16:30 and called for help. The police officers and other emergency services who arrived on the scene, initially thought the woman had been stabbed to death.

Her clothes were torn off and she had wounds on her body. However, when the police viewed the CCTV footage, they saw the woman hitting the dogs with a green hosepipe moments before she was attacked.

Class referred to his mother’s death as a tragic accident, but insists that something must have happened to force his mother to hit the animals.

“I was told that due to load-shedding, the events in the run up to my mother using the hosepipe, were unfortunately not recorded.”

Class said his family is extremely traumatised.

“We have many questions, especially about the manner in which we were notified of her death. I tried to call my mother several times on Saturday and Sunday, but the phone just rang.

“I was only informed on Monday that my mother had died and her body was at the mortuary.”

Class said the employers knew where his mother lived and he does not understand why they did not go to her house to inform her family of her death in person.

“The first time the man spoke to me was when I went to their house.“

Class said his mother was taking care of his diseased sister’s two children. She was the sole breadwinner.

Tryphinah was also the grandmother to Class’ three young children. Class said he will remember her as a loving and caring person.

“Comments on social media exclaiming that my mother deserved to die, are simply appalling. I cannot believe that some people value animals over the life of a human being,” he said.

He said it also saddened him that people are turning this matter into a racial issue. Ridge Times asked the owners of the dogs and Tryphinah’s employers for comment, but they declined.

The law states:

The newspaper is prohibited by law to identify them because it will indirectly identify the 10-year-old girl who is a witness in the case.

Section 154(3) of the Criminal Procedure Act prohibits the media from identifying a child who is a victim, a witness or even a perpetrator of a crime.

This is what a dog trainer says:
The Ridge Times spoke to Joanie Viljoen, a dog trainer from Middelburg who specifically trains Malinois and Alsatians. Viljoen said a Malinois is a dog that requires a lot of attention and is very loyal and intelligent.

“They are service dogs often trained to work for the police,” said Viljoen.

A Malinois and a Daschund, for example, must be handled differently. A Malinois needs a lot of stimulation.

“As service dogs, Malinois have four basic drives – play, prey, defend and fight.”

According to Viljoen, the owner of a Malinois should know how to handle this type of dog breed and learn how to read their body language.

ALSO CHECK: Dog mauls pedestrian’s genitals in Evander

“These dogs have a very high energy drive and anything can trigger them. Some animals develop excessive play aggression where they get aggressive while playing.

“There may be a threshold of stimulation exceeded before such aggression develops.”

Viljoen, who has completed four years of training and studying dogs, said sometimes a Malinois also tends to have excessive investigatory behaviour as they are inquisitive dogs. This sometimes gets them into trouble.

She said it is important to stimulate a Malinois’ brain and body by taking them for regular runs in the veld and for training, even if it is only basic training.

She described the Malinois as one of the best guard dogs and also as a dog that gets along well with other dogs if their owners teach them to socialise at a young age.

ALSO CHECK: Dog bite victim needs surgery after vicious attack in Evander