King of Woodstock?
COMMENT
It began innocently as a children’s party in a Woodstock park in Cape Town. There was a cute baby goat, the kid’s family and friends, and – allegedly – the smell of braai. Enter the white lady, who eyed the party suspiciously before fleeing the scene…
Megan Furniss, a resident in the gentrified Cape suburb, spotted the party and the goat on Saturday afternoon. Upon seeing the goat, and hearing its “screaming” she ran to Facebook.
From there, what soon became known as “Goatgate”, began to escalate as the community feared the worst. Some of them urged Furniss to call the police, but alas, the cops couldn’t help.
“I am undone. Policeman asked if the goat did a crime. Said unless goat did a crime I shouldn’t call police,” Furniss wrote in a Facebook comment.
With her fear increasing, Furniss steeled herself to be rational, even as Jennifer Bradley, another community member asked: “What would they want with a goat? Unless they were having sex with the goat??”.
“Look, I have to be a bit more rational and it really doesn’t seem like it would be possible to slaughter, skin and prepare an animal in that space of time,” Furniss wrote.
However, a resident soon caught a whiff of an ominous sign.
“Did not see dead goat, but did not see or hear any signs of a live one either, and there was definitely a smell of braai,” wrote Facebook community member Mandy Soulsby-Bodart.
People on the Facebook group began to fear that the worst had happened: the crowd had slaughtered the goat.
But a little while later, a father, Siraj Waggie, entered the discussion.
“It was my son’s 7th birthday party,” Waggie began. “He loves animals and wants to be a vet when he grows up.”
The father went on to say that it would have been “prudent” if the “suspicious looking caucasians lurking through the park” had approached the party with their concerns instead of posting on Facebook.
We also caught the “braai smell”, Waggie wrote, saying it was perhaps one of the neighbours nearby.
“To all the other keyboard commandos that accused us of ritual slaughtering and beastiality – may you find inner peace and focus your energy on creating a better South Africa for all,” he said.
As some group members showed support for Waggie, others remained suspicious, saying Furniss was a blogger who challenged racism in her community. But Furniss herself soon posted an apology.
“I am beyond devastated that I have hurt people and caused pain and outrage,” she wrote on Sunday morning.
And so another eventful weekend came to an end in Woodstock.