The furore surrounding the slaughtering of a bull by former African National Congress chief whip Tony Yengeni was a political issue that had nothing to do with animal cruelty, the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NSPCA) said on Tuesday.
Speaking after a meeting with the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities, the NSPCA blamed the media for drawing the organisation into a political matter.
”This was just a political issue. I believe that the NSPCA, the Human Rights Commission, the … commission and everyone was pulled into a political story which had nothing to do with slaughtering,” said NSPCA chief executive Marcelle Meredith.
She said the Cape of Good Hope branch of the NSPCA, which had originally laid the complaint about Yengeni, had been foolish to get embroiled in a political matter.
”The media was the one who came to them with the story that Yengeni had slaughtered the bull. They should not have taken this political bait,” said Meredith.
Cultural and linguistic rights commission chairperson Mongezi Guma said the Yengeni debacle had a positive effect as it created discussions that would lead to a better understanding of people from different cultures.
”The meeting between the NSPCA and us was fruitful and very helpful. We made a commitment to find ways to do cultural slaughtering in a way that will promote and protect the welfare of the animals.”
Yengeni slaughtered a bull last month at his father’s house in Guguletu, Cape Town, as part of a cleansing ceremony following his four-month prison stint for fraud. — Sapa