1000s of day-old chicks burnt alive in SA protests

MAHIKENG — About 38 000 day-old chicks were killed when a truck was set alight during a service delivery protest in Lichtenburg on Friday.

Some of the chicks were thrown off the truck, and were then run over with another truck, Opti Chicks, the company that supplies them, said in a statement.

The NSPCA said its farm animal protection unit was deployed to the scene, but was recalled after being informed that no chicks survived.

“We emphasise that the suffering endured by these birds can hardly be imagined. It would have been agonising and prolonged. It was also totally unnecessary,” the organisation said in a statement on Monday.

Because there was no footage of the protest in which the perpetrators could be identified, an investigation into the cruelty would be complicated.

Netwerk24 reported that roads to and from the town were re-opened on Monday afternoon after more protest action in the morning. Residents of Blydeville are protesting for housing and better service delivery.

Meanwhile, tensions were running high in Coligny and Lichtenburg in the North West after protesters plundered shops and burnt vehicles on Monday and yesterday, Netwerk24 reports.

“It is currently quiet in the two towns, but violence can break out any minute,” North West police spokesperson Brigadier Sabata Mokgwabone said.

He confirmed that three trucks had been destroyed in Coligny on Monday after they were set alight by protesters.

Coligny AGS church minister Dr Herman Meyer said it was safer for residents of the town to stay at home.

“Shops in the town and the town are completely destroyed. People who have been living in Coligny for 60 years lost everything within 24 hours,” Meyer said.

Meyer said not only shops were looted, but offices were set alight as well.

He says it was “just grace” that the OK grocery store was still standing.

According to Mokgwabone, 14 protesters had been arrested on Friday and seven on Monday in Lichtenburg, all on charges of public violence.

“The offenders which were arrested on Friday, already appeared in court, where the case was postponed to May 2. Those who were arrested on Monday will appear in court for the first time on Wednesday,” he said. — AFP