SASOLBURG. – “Let’s slaughter the goats and have a big braai!” “No, leave them alone. It’s the garden department’s new maintenance team!”

These were some of the varied comments from readers after a photo of boerbokke (ordinary farm goats) happily grazing in the built-in plant and flower pots in Sasolburg’s “Wandellaan”, was recently posted on Facebook. The “Wandellaan” is the pedestrian promenade that flows through Sasolburg’s arcades in the central business area.

Sasolburg’s founders who carefully planned and developed the town’s famous Wandellaan more than 50 years ago would probably turn in their graves if they had to know about the goats in the town centre.

The Wandellaan was developed decades ago according to European standards to give Sasolburg’s business center a distinctive, wellcoming atmosphere. For years, the town has boasted one of the most beautiful, modern business promenades in the country and has repeatedly won national awards.

Lush plants, fountains and multicolored flowers in the built-in planters beautified the then neat, clean pedestrian route. Cozy coffee shops around every corner invited shoppers to relax in the promenadeto and linger longer in the business centre. Today, few of these remain. The once beautiful plants are gone and the planters are now overgrown with grass and bushes. Definitely no longer an attraction for the average customer… but certainly for a herd of around 25 boerbokke who in recent weeks regularly entered the central business district and came to graze on the grass and bushes.

DA councilor Jacques Barnard says the goats have been grazing all over town for some time. “At first they only went as far as the prison in Klasie Havenga Street, but I suspect the lead goat then decided to try the greener grass in the town centre. They come out of the township and regularly go back at the same time around early evening. When we (the DA) were in power, we wanted to have them impounded, because that way we would be able to track down the owner, but unfortunately the Metsimaholo Municipality does not have the necessary facilities,” he says.

He did, however, bring the problem of the goats to the mayor’s attention, after which a public notice was issued. In it, the municipality warns animal owners that livestock found unattended in the business area will be confiscated. Moreover, it is a violation of the Animal Protection Act No. 71 of 1962, for which livestock owners can be criminally charged. According to councillor Barnard, the goats have apparently not been seen in the planters since the notice was issued.

Although some Facebook readers expressed fierce criticism about the goats and the “lowering of standards”, most asked that the four-legged “helpers” of the gardens department be handled gently. “At least they keep the grass and bushes in the flower planters short and tidy,” says a reader. Another speculates that the goats belong to a sangoma and that one should rather not interfere with them. Yet another reader raises a glass on the herd with a short and sweet: “Go, Bokke!”