Criminally charge pit bull owners

SOUTH Africa has been rocked by the recent spate of vicious attacks by pit bull dogs, particularly on children, many of them fatal.

The outrage is understandable. In at least one incident, residents have taken the law into their own hands and stoned or set fire to the animal.

Moves are now afoot to have the breed banned altogether across the country. One consequence of this has been the pressure on owners to surrender their animals to the non-profit SPCA.

In turn, the SPCA now faces being bankrupted by the unprecedented dumping of dogs which have to be fed, rehomed or, in all probability, euthanised.

What is significant is the lack of guidance – or even utterance on the matter – by the government, which, although unsurprising, is intolerable.

There is a historical problem with pit bulls, but it has little to do with the breed itself and everything to do with the mentality and demeanour of those who own them.

There are many other breeds that are capable of being trained for aggression, especially those in the service of law enforcement and military, yet none have earned the notoriety that pit bulls have.

As South Africans we are exceptionally good at describing problems and world champions at over-reacting – and still not finding solutions.

We believe the government has to do two things urgently: (a) support the SPCA to receive these surrendered animals and either rehome or euthanise them and (b) relook at the law.

It seems inhumane and unfair that man’s best friend must bear the full responsibility for man’s selfishness, vanity and toxic masculinity.

The law must recognise the responsibility of the owner. The NPA can start by criminally charging each dog owner for every tragic attack.

Perhaps then, we will all be safe from pit bulls – or any other dog.

IT WARMED the cockles of my heart to see President Cyril Ramaphosa so happy and exuberant during his state visit to the UK.

There he was, sashaying down red carpets between guards of honour, attending a royal state banquet, and cheekily taking advantage of the rare honour of addressing both houses of parliament to demand grants and more concessional loans to fund South Africa’s “just transition” from coal. There was also a trundle down the Mall to Buckingham Palace, ensconced in a horse-drawn gilded coach and escorted by a cavalry squadron with sabres drawn.

In all, a blissful contrast to home. The last time we saw Ramaphosa flash his gums with such enthusiasm in South Africa was soon after he had deposed his evil predecessor and a deliriously happy public was mobbing him on his morning jogs to slap his back and to touch the magic of his New Dawn raiments.

Alas, dawn turned quickly to dusk. The only hands now directed at his back are the dagger-clasping paws of his party comrades. Electrical power has gone. Water is going. Civil unrest and violent crime are increasing.

As if on cue, the moment Ramaphosa left South Africa for the UK, Eskom plunged into yet another crisis. This is par for the course. The Radical Economic Transformation saboteurs crippling Eskom facilities time their actions for the greatest political advantage and to showcase the president’s impotence.

Ramaphosa has twice had to cut short overseas visits to return and be seen to be “dealing with the crisis”. That this largely consists of wringing his hands and making soothing noises, is manna from heaven for his enemies. So the moment he leaves and Eskom goes into spasms, the opposition parties and his foes within the ANC bait him with demands that he returns to provide “leadership”.

This time with Eskom it was not sabotage but stupidity that knocked out the grid. Soon after the presidential jet departed for London, the utility announced that it had run out of budget to fuel the turbines that provide fall-back power generation. It had burned through its annual R11 billion diesel budget in just six months and said it shorted another R15bn to keep the flickering emergency lighting going.

Since there was no additional government money forthcoming, Eskom had to increase load shedding to 8-10 hours a day, with the prospect of worse to come. Even if Treasury support or additional loan finance could be procured, because of projected delays in fuel delivery as Western nations scramble to make up for the loss of Russian gas supplies in the coming winter, there would be no relief until April next year.

Somehow, nobody in the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) had twigged that Eskom would be unable to buy diesel without any money. And Eskom’s pleas to Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan had gone unheeded.

Business Day columnist Peter Bruce bemoans the lack of “common sense” displayed not only in this latest debacle, but in the government’s cack-handed approach in general. That’s true, as far as it goes, but there is something more than just a lack of practicality at issue here.