Anxious cow attacks local singer

VANDERBIJL PARK. – A panicked Brahman heifer who lost her way caused pandemonium last Sunday morning when she ran through the streets of a quiet neighbourhood and knocked over and injured a young woman.

A member of AfriForum Vanderbijlpark who tried to lead the heifer away was also run over by the animal.

Ms. Bianca Pretorius, a singer from the Vaal Triangle, says she heard an unusual noise that morning and saw through her window that four dogs were chasing a heifer through Ameshof Street.

“The dogs bit the terrified heifer on her legs and bit her in the face. I am a big animal lover and immediately went out to try and get the dogs away from her. The heifer clearly didn’t understand that I wanted to help her and the next moment she knocked me over,” says Bianca.

She landed face first on the sidewalk and tried to get up with a bleeding nose and a mouth full of mud, but immediately realized she had suffered a bad injury to her stomach and left foot.

Residents of the street who took videos with their mobile phones could see that there were big problems and immediately called the police and AfriForum for assistance. Some of the men tried to rush the frightened heifer between the houses to a safer area. In the process, one of AfriForum’s members was also knocked over but fortunately was not seriously injured. The heifer was restrained in a nearby field, where she was able to calm down until her herdsmen and the owner, a Mr. Olwethu, arrived.

The animal apparently broke out earlier the morning while the farmer’s workers in a nearby township were administering vitamin injections to a herd of cattle. The heifer continued to trot and eventually ended up in the neat residential area to the east of Vanderbijlpark. More cattle were brought to the neighborhood by herders later the morning to lead the stray heifer home as part of the herd.

Bianca was meanwhile taken to hospital, where a sonar examination determined that she had suffered a bad bruise to her abdomen and an injury to her bladder. X-rays of her left foot showed that no bones were broken, but all the ligaments in her foot and ankle were torn. She still cannot step on her foot and still has a large, dark purple bruise all over her abdomen.

The 32-year-old singer has been performing regularly at events since childhood and a week ago released her single, “Kan ek jou vashou” (“May I hold you”), nationally. Last year she received the Afro-Indie Awards as well as the SA Country Awards as best newcomer and was nominated again this year. She hopes to be able to walk again by April 4 to attend this year’s Afri-Indie Awards.

“I’m not angry at all with the cow or with her owner. It was my own fault for getting involved,” says Bianca.