THE lack of an operational pound in Somerset East has been an uphill battle for residents for the past few years.
“The value of a pound is immeasurable, especially for those whose lives are at risk,” said Fiona Brown, DA councillor at the Blue Crane Route Municipality (BCRM).
“Residents are fed up with the damage caused by roaming livestock to gardens and vehicles, and the threat to the safety of motorists,” she said.
In 2013/2014 a budget of R850 000 was allocated for the establishment of a pound. This matter was ‘re-evaluated’ (IDP Review 2014/2015) with the outcome that the budget was slashed to R575 900 in the adjusted budget of the 2015/2016 financial year.
Despite stating that the “pound will be established in the next financial year,” (IDP, 2018:43) the budget was cut further to R150 000 in that same year.
Actual spending on the project has been R246 568 over the three financial years and there is still no sign of an operational pound.
Roaming animals found nearby are put into the camp where the unfinished building is situated, but that is all that is being done at this stage.
Brown said that her efforts began before she became a councillor, when she wrote a letter on behalf of the farming community petitioning for a pound and later in 2017 for a pound and for roadway fences to be attended to in order to ensure animals were kept off the roads.
Once a councillor, she submitted a motion to the BCRM council in November 2016 requesting that the budget be reallocated so that the pound be prioritised and that in the interim a temporary pound be constructed to be a repository for stray animals.
In June 2019, she wrote to the acting municipal manager, asking for facts and figures pertaining to vehicle accidents with cattle over the past year to be presented to council.
Brown feels strongly that answers to these questions will assist her in taking further steps in an effort to get this matter finally solved.
She plans to take this issue to Bhisho through the constituency leader, Vicky Knoetze, who is a member of the provincial legislature. Knoetze is in a position to request that provincial government instruct the BCRM to prioritise the pound, as well as administration of the by-laws as they pertain to managing stray animals.
In the meantime petition forms will be doing the rounds in town and Brown implores every disgruntled resident to make a concerted effort to add a signature. The petition can be signed at the DA office on the corner of Rawson and Njoli Street from Monday to Friday, 09:00 to 12:00. The petition will be submitted to the petitions committee in Bhisho, who will hopefully take note of the plight of the residents of the BCRM.
When Mid-Karoo Express spoke to Mandisi Planga in November 2018, he urged the community to report any stray animals to Denzyl Rooy at the Traffic Department on 042 243 6400.
