Bethal’s Dada and Nicolas are on a mission to save suffering animals
Ngcongwana and Pietersen have been working together on their outreach programmes which educate and assist people in rural areas on how to take better care of their animals.
Dogs chained up, no shelter, food or water, a sight that pained Dada Pietersen so much that all she could do was pray and ask God to help the suffering animals.
Little did she know her prayer would be answered on a day while Pietersen was driving. A dog ran into the road and narrowly escaped from being hit by a truck and Pietersen’s vehicle.
The dog was following children walking alongside the road. Pietersen turned her vehicle around and stopped.
She picked the dog up and a girl came running up to her.
“I asked her whose dog it was and that I was going to take it. She said it is her brother’s,” said Pietersen.
Pietersen took the girl with the dog to the girl’s house but the brother was not there. Pietersen returned the next day and met the girl’s brother named Nicolas Ngcongwana.
“At first he had an attitude with me because I wanted to take his dog. I explained why I was going to take it because of the children not picking the dog up when crossing the road and that it was going to get killed.
Ngcongwana said “his sister did not mention that,” said Pietersen.
Pietersen had noticed Ngcongwana’s dog Tiger (the one Pietersen almost knocked over) and another dog (Whitey), both male and female.
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She could see that Ngcongwana’s dogs were well taken care of, however, she felt the need to explain to him the problems he would have with the breeding of puppies if his dogs do not get sterilised.
She offered him help to get his dogs sterilised and vaccinated. Although sceptical at first, Ngcongwana agreed to Pietersen’s offer.
Seeing how she helped him and explaining on how to take better care of his dogs, Nicolas wanted to do the same and reach out to his community.
From that day on Ngcongwana and Pietersen have been working together on their outreach programmes to educate and assist people in rural areas on how to take better care of their animals.
“From when we met, he has become very responsible, confident and loyal. He wants to solve the problems.”
Ngcongwana will speak to communities on the importance of sterilisation to prevent unwanted breeding, vaccinating their animals, side effects and signs caused by viruses such as Parvo and basic animal care.
In homes where animals are chained or wired up, Ngcongwana would place runner cables to which the dog’s leash would be attached, giving the dog more space to run around without escaping the property.
Ngcongwana also came to rescue his furry friend Nunu from a shack where he was tied up.
“Whenever the owner of the dog would leave for work Nicolas would untie Nunu. This eventually lead to the children in the area seeing what Ngcongwana was doing and would end up doing the same,” said Pietersen.
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Nunu got very ill from tick bite fever. Ngcongwana carried Nunu from where he stayed near Bethal town to Pietersen’s farm to get help.
Nunu ended up getting treatment from the state vet and had to get a blood transfusion from a Greyhound. More than a month later Nunu was returned to his owner.
While Ngcongwana was working away from home, he received a call from his sister to inform him that Nunu’s leg was bleeding.
Nunu received treatment for an injury to his paw and after much debate with the owner, Nunu was surrendered to Ngcongwana.
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Ngcongwana and Nunu share a special bond and the two are inseparable. When Ngcongwana won a gold medal for a marathon he recently ran, he gave it to Nunu as a collar.
“He is so good with animals. He loves his animals,” said Pietersen.
Ngcongwana and Pietersen are supported by their volunteering team Bettie Simelane, Ben Simelane, Bianca Pretorius, Lukas Simelane, Tokozane Ngwenya, Joe Bezuidenhout and Rita Pretorius.
Pietersen said that although not many people in these areas care for the work they do, there is no stopping Ngcongwana, despite getting death threats and being treated badly by the people because of his association with Pietersen.
“I told him to stand up for himself and what he believes in,” said Pietersen.
Pietersen would always speak to Ngcongwana about God. One day Whitey did not return home, which was unusual, and Ngcongwana knew there was something wrong.
Little did he know Whitey was caught in a snare. Fearful of going into the bush on his own, as it was getting dark, Ngcongwana phoned Pietersen.
“I told him to put his dog Kaya on a leash and to tell Kaya to show him where Whitey is and to walk to the bush and pray to God for his protection.
“He phoned me back and said Kaya helped him find Whitey and he did not at all feel scared and he had a feeling of safety come over him. After that he wanted to know more about God,” said Pietersen.
Ngcongwana is now on a journey with God and wants to spread God’s word to his community. Through his journey, he came to meet Pastor Cindy Mathebula.
“The pastor comes every Sunday to the farm and gives Sunday School to the children around here. I think the reason why we met and the way we met is because of God’s plan. Through God’s animals we can reach more people who can learn more about the love of God, our Creator,” said Pietersen.
Pietersen and Ngcongwana in collaboration with Because Dogs and Co have formed Project Uthando, which assists with funding for sterilisations.
To support Project Uthando by means of funding, details are as follows:
First National Bank
Account number 627 7310 1557
Branch 250655
You can also contact Chantél Vorster via WhatsApp message only on 081 013 4952 if you wish to know more about Project Uthando and other projects.
