Municipal by-law enforcers wanted

It has been three years since the issue of stray cattle roaming the city’s streets last caused major incidents, but it’s once again on the rise and came to a head on Tuesday morning when two accidents occurred as motorists slammed into cows on the John Ross highway.

There were 20 head of cattle on the centre median between the Alton and Mondi intersections before sun-up, and inevitably, at least one of these beasts ventured onto the roadway in the dark.

The first accident occurred in this vicinity on the Richards Bay-bound carriageway, and by 7.30am, traffic was backed up almost to the eSikhaleni intersection.

The second accident took place between the Mondi robots and the banana sellers on the Empangeni-bound carriageway.

These incidents occurred during morning rush hour, when the John Ross is at its busiest.

With traffic jams in both vicinities, and cattle still on the road and adjacent grass, further chaos was added to the scene when hordes of people, some having jumped out of a taxi that came to a grinding halt, streamed across the highway to slaughter the injured cows and take whatever meat they could.

This practice may ensure the injured animal does not suffer, and that carcasses are not left to rot, but people streaming across the road, bush knives in hand, poses a major safety problem.

In 2019, the City of uMhlathuze signed a Service Level Agreement (SLA) with a livestock pound in eShowe.

The agreement would see the city’s traffic department rounding up stray cattle, loading them onto trailers purchased by the municipality, and transporting them to the pound.

In February of that year, the municipality went on record with the ZO to state its plans to deal with the stray cattle. This included public meetings with communities, and the purchase of an applicable vehicle and two trailers – one that carries five cattle and a larger one that carries 15.

These were purchased during that year.

The municipality also included the removal of stray cattle in its recently updated by-laws.

So what happened with the SLA, the vehicle and the trailers, that this was only enforced a handful of times?

Where was the traffic department on Tuesday morning when 20 cattle were playing chicken on the John Ross?

Luckily, the two motorists who hit the cows did not sustain serious injuries, but the situation could have been fatal for more than just the cows.

Rather than freezing critical posts in the severely understaffed traffic department to make way for extra bodyguards, the City of uMhlathuze needs to get serious about enforcing by-laws and making our roads safer by putting stray cattle where they should be – in the pound.