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Stray cattle cause chaos on N2

Knocked pregnant cow gives birth.

Cattle on the N2 have caused a number of accidents in the last week.

Four cars collided with three cows on the N2 north near the Umgababa off-ramp on Friday evening at about 7.30am.

“Reports indicate three cows were walking on the highway, spaced over about two hundred metres apart,” said Netcare 911 inland media liaison, Chris Botha.

“Netcare 911 paramedics arrived to find that one of the vehicles had overturned and rolled down the road, the wreckage coming to rest on its wheels. The wreckages and dead cattle were obstructing the highway.

One of the cows was pregnant and gave birth after she was hit by one of the vehicles, but the calf also died at the scene.”

The occupants of the vehicles miraculously escaped uninjured, however the roadway was obstructed for some time while emergency services removed the dead cattle from the highway.

Cattle running on the N2 north and south caused havoc at the Doonside off-ramp on Thursday afternoon, 1 May.

Botha reported a bakkie travelling on the N2 north collided with one of the cows at about 3.30pm, causing severe damage to the vehicle.

“Netcare 911 paramedics and the fire services arrived to find the cow had been killed on impact and was lying in the fast lane,” said Botha. “Fortunately the vehicle occupants escaped uninjured.”

The traffic department had to close the highway while the remaining cattle were herded off the N2.

Toti residents are constantly plagued with the problem of roaming cattle in the suburbs.

A bull, part of a herd that is illegally allowed to graze in Hutchison Park surrounds, attacked two people, including a four-year-old girl, last May.

Sandlisiwe Dlamini was walking with her father, Percy to her grandmother’s house in the vicinity of Old Main Road on the outskirts of KwaMakhutha and Toti on Sunday, 12 May when the bull attacked them and gored on the right-side of the neck.

Percy said another person was attacked by the same bull later that day. When he confronted the owner, he refused to do anything about it.

The incidents follow an article in the Sun in April 2013, where Amanzimtoti Sports Centre (ASC) committee members complained about a cattle owner who illegally grazes his herd in Hutchison Park. They warned of a possible catastrophe occurring should it be allowed to continue.

ASC chairman, Manna Hoogenboezem reported that in the past a bull has chased players on the sports fields at Hutchison Park and an infant was nearly trampled.

Despite numerous complaints to eThekwini Municipality, the problem cannot be solved as the city does not have an animal pound in the area to confiscate stray animals.

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