A digital future awaits

Sanjana Jugdeo with her sister Ariyana, who was sleeping, after undergoing two operations.

CANDICE SOOBRAMONEY ARIYANA Jugdeo, who was mauled by her family’s new pitbull a week ago, is recovering at home.

The four-year-old underwent two operations after their dog, Jock, bit chunks of flesh from her back, while she was playing outside with her two older sisters.

When POST visited her at home in Verulam on Monday, she was asleep.

Her father, Jugdeo, said: “She underwent the first operation last Tuesday at Wentworth Hospital, where the wounds were cleaned. The second operation, which was reconstructive surgery, was done at Umhlanga Hospital on Saturday.

“Ariyana is in a lot of pain and is battling to walk. We have to carry her like an invalid. As soon as she gets some of her strength back, she will need to go for physiotherapy and trauma counselling.”

He said his wife, Sarika, was battling to come to terms with what happened as she had witnessed the attack.

According to Sarika, Ariyana was listening to Indian music and dancing around the house when she decided to join her sisters outside.

Seconds later, she heard their screams.

When she ran outside, she saw Ariyana lying on her stomach with two-and-a-half-year-old Jock on top of her. He was gripping and pulling at her.

Sarika tried to grab the dog by its collar but he refused to let go of the child.

She eventually threatened him with a broom and this resulted in him leaving Ariyana alone.

The family, who have two other pitbulls named Sheba and Bailey, bought Jock about a month ago from a private seller.

The owner told them the dog bit someone else previously but was good with children.

According to Jugdeo, Jock was returned to the previous owner after biting Ariyana as the dog had also become aggressive with him.

He still has the other pitbulls on the property.

“I know I have to get rid of Sheba and Bailey, but we have been so focussed on Ariyana’s recovery that we have not thought about the other two dogs. They have not done anything wrong, but as parents we cannot take that chance.”

The President of the Pit Bull Federation of South Africa, Jeanette Erasmus, said Jock should be euthanised. POST and its sister titles in the Independent Media stable are being equipped for a digital future as part of a R1.2 billion plan announced by the company’s executive chairman, Dr Iqbal Survé, this week.

The major investment will be the driving force behind Independent’s expansion and introduction of new technology and digital platforms over the next six years.

Survé said the investment would the be the largest made by any local media company in this sphere, reiterating his commitment to transform the media house into a tech-savvy outfit.

“When we acquired Independent last year, the vision was always to build the most tech-savvy media company in Africa.

“This investment is tangible proof of our commitment to be

Dr Iqbal Surve, chairman of Independent Newspapers Africa’s biggest media company in five years.”

This follows a R66 million investment this year which saw the introduction of an IOLMobile website as well as the launch of the My.Independent app for cellphones and tablets.

Survé said a third of the R1.2bn was being bankrolled by Sekunjalo Investment Holdings, while the rest was being pumped into Independent Media by two international banks.

He said the foreign investment was a vote of confidence that the company was heading in the right direction.

“The investment will be multi-pronged, embracing both the acquisition of existing businesses and the organic growth of Independent’s technologydriven business units,” he said.

“The next five years will see substantial investment of financial and other resources into equipping Independent Media and all its titles for the digital future.”

Some of these advancements would include increased bandwidth for Independent Media’s titles, which include POST, The Mercury and Daily News in Durban.

Another top priority would be introducing video and audio streaming services.

Survé said Independent Media’s previous owners had neglected the digital side of the company resulting in a huge loss of market share which competitors capitalised on.

The news of the investment follows the announcement of a R50m bid for SAPA, the local news agency.