After initially declining, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) on Tuesday accepted an invitation by Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana to attend a ritual ceremony where a bull will be slaughtered.
”As a leader of our country the minister is sure to uphold the law and we are confident that no suffering will take place during the traditional slaughter,” said SPCA executive director Marcelle Meredith.
”We are assured there is no suffering if the slaughter is carried out in the traditional manner by a skilled person, taking into account the transport, handling and restraining of the animal,” said Meredith.
Mdladlana’s traditional ceremony will take place at his Eastern Cape rural home on Saturday. Mdladlana said the bull would be slaughtered ”without being anaesthetised”.
His invitation followed a furore that erupted after former African National Congress chief whip Tony Yengeni reportedly speared a bull before it was slaughtered at his parents’ home in Guguletu, Cape Town, last weekend.
The slaughter was part of a cleansing ritual following his recent release from prison after serving four months of a four-year sentence for fraud.
Meredith said this will not be the first time the SPCA attends a religious or traditional ceremony as they were present at Steve Biko commemoration and at a cleansing ceremony at Vlakplaas, a former apartheid death-squad farm where people opposing apartheid were killed.
They have also been to Moria in Limpopo where the Zion Christian Church gather for their annual pilgrimage during the Easter holidays.
”We respect the rights of religious and traditional beliefs and have worked together with the leaders of organisations for many years,” said Meredith. — Sapa