Cattle, goats, Donkeys, Horses wandering on roads

[SYRON CONVERSIONS]

Okay here goes..............I would like to hear your comments, views and whatever else you have to say concerning this topic.

But before I continue, I would just like to state that it is not the animals fault that it or they are wandering around on public roads. It is the owners fault.

Now when a person is driving his vehicle and he or she knocks over an animal in the road, most times The Owner cannot be found!!
Most times when a vehicle knocks over an animal in the road, people are hurt badly, some are killed and their vehicles are written off?

Now because the accident was between your vehicle and an animal, you cannot claim from The Road Accident Fund, this is a fact.
You can only claim when it is between two vehicles or a person walking on the road.

Now I would like to hear what would happen if a person who is driving his vehicle on a public road and comes across animals wandering in the road, what would be the result if they had to shoot these animals, I am 100% sure that the owner would come foreward to claim that they are in fact his animals. And would be upset because somebody shot them dead.
(unquote).

I have seen many people who have been envolved in such accidents, some of my friends have been killed and some even worse off. I suppose for the person who has not been envolved in such an accident, it might be difficult for them to understand this type of accident and the result there of, but please I would like to hear your honest comments.
Thankyou

[Spartan]

Shoot the owner the moment he steps up and claim's it was his animals, thats the only language they understand, that way you get rid of the whole problem

[Zandyl]

the owner would come foreward to claim that they are in fact his animals

No not one, rather 10 of them

[Mud Dog]

Hey! .... What can one say? .... After all, this is Africa!

As far as I am aware, in the case of such an accident, one would have recourse against owner of said animal, whose responsibility it is to ensure that it is properly camped and cannot pose a threat to road users. The difficulty is to establish ownership, but one could open a criminal case, I think, which would place the onus of establishing this in the hands of our very capable police Obviously then said owner will be found guilty and given a suspended sentence instead of a fine or merely a warning (Ignorance of the law is no excuse but favours certain cultural groups more than others :!: ). Thereafter all you need is a good few grand to sue for damages (with costs), an easily winable case. The owner will then have to sell off his remaining mingy livestock, which will teach him a powerful lesson. The outcome will spread via bush-telegraph faster than any wild fire, providing the same lesson to other stock owners for miles around. Then all that needs to happen is a repetition of the above in a few more places around the cunterey, ...... and WALA! .... no more problem!!

[SYRON CONVERSIONS]

A very very good friend of mine was envolved in an accident on Thursday evening this past week, concerning cattle that were in the road, he is in a very uncomfortable condition.

A few years ago, my wife and I were on our way back from East London, we were driving in our little Nissan 1400 bakkie, well we came over this rise in the road, luckily it was an 80km zone and it was misty, this was also in the dark, however it was so sudden that we could not stop, and the bakkie hit a few of them and before we knew it, we were off the road and the bakkie was facing towards the road, my door would not open, the windscreen was shattered, the roof caved in above my head, the canopy lying in the bush, all our luggauge was all over the place and there were a few cows lying in the middle of the road. Another car behind us also hit these half dead or whatever cattle in the road.

And there was blood all over the place, somehow or the other, I still to this day do not know how I got this hole in my right breast bone area, which part of the cow hit me, luckily my wife was alright, but just shocked, I took pics of the dead cattle markings and with other people stopping to help, the cattle were cut up and vanished within a very short time, will not go into this any futher, but nobody came foreward to say that they were their cattle, I managed somehow to climb back into the bakkie and drive about 20km to a small town called Stutterheim to the hospital where I was attended to, some friends that we knew there helped us out as well.

Yes I was very very lucky as well as my wife, my bakkie was written off, when i drove it to Stutterheim, i did not care if the engine seized or not.
Anyway we survived with Gods help and this is when I replaced the bakkie with my Toyota Hilux 4x4.

Which has this mean big front bumper in front as well as a few mods as well, will post some pic's sometime, the main reason why I am sharing this topic with you all is because I want to just bring to your attention, to be aware of animals roaming on the roads espicially at night time and because my friend was injured this past week. And all the memnories have come back, for many months after this accident, small pieces of glass came out from this area of my chest, it looks like a small road map in that area.

And thus this is why I am anti-animals roaming on the roads, day and night.

[Mud Dog]

Hope your mate recovers soon, and jokes aside it is a hazard. I recall a post about something similar some time back, about Kudu jumping over a vehicle once the head lamps have passed and hitting into the cab. A reminder of the tip I left then was to drive with the interior light on at night in kudu country, or anywhere where other antelope are likely to do this. They then see the rest of the vehicle and jump well after ... out of harms way.

[TumTum]

Swazi Culture - free range animals:- chickens, pigs, goats, horses, cattle, geese, ducks + ducklings! donkeys (few though) and the odd turkey! :evil: :x ...friends knocked a cow at dusk on Tea Road, Ezulwini, this past Friday - fortunately no one hurt - bakkie badly damaged!..the owner of the beast...eish angaase!

A 'craft helper' at work asked time off to go "search" for his cattle - he last left them to graze at Motshane and they had "disappeared" - 5 days later he found them grazing in Ezulwini (30km away - perhaps it was them munching away on the succulent daisies on my pavement garden!) Took him another 3 days to get them back to Motshane (by foot - sjoo! sjoo!) - the daisies are blooming, they're back here, or someone else's! Mabuza, how do you know these are your cattle? I know them by the eyes!

There are almost daily incidents, I recall - two weeks ago a Quantam smacked 4 cows on the highway between Manzini & Mbabane - owner claims E11 000 damage, Quantum E20 000 damage (fortunately no passengers and driver unhurt)...case pending.

A bus smacked 11 cattle on the Nhlangano road - Gogo claimed E22 000, bus owner paid.

The king and his entourage was almost wiped out by stray cattle on the way to Hlane. It was last year. Since then a "ban" of stray cattle erupted. Town Boards emphatically tried to implement pounds - E80 (Emalangeni, equivalent to Rands) per day per animal. Ooooh! Truck is broken. Cannot find suitable pound (who's going to pay for their feed while they're there anyway!) A topnotch 'somebody' just about shot the Town Counsel for taking 20 of his cattle into pound and not releasing them without payment!

One of our trucks hit a goat (unavoidable!). The claim: It was an ewe and had a certain lifespan in which it was going to reproduce so many 'goatlets' and so many offspring....+ + + $=$$$.....the claim is still pending!

A chicken was run over by a worker in a company vehicle. It was supposedly brooding on 27 eggs. Each egg will be an adult chicken @ E20 ea, brooding on another supposedly 20+ eggs ea + + + +...ridiculous - the claim is still pending.....

I have lost dear in-laws due to stray cattle on SA roads - robbed my son of his grandparents FOR LIFE! Next day the farm folk were having a feast! :evil: :x :x :evil:

The donkeys in Botswana have adapted to the colours of the roads - from 'tar-like' colours to 'sandy' colours....only see them when they're right in front of you.

The stray animals have become a serious problem in Africa - free ranging is just an excuse as they do not have enough grazing fields for them...here they can graze ANYWHERE, EVERYWHERE! Even urban areas!

Years ago we used to plan our holidays and excursions, to leave at sparrows or even midnight and drove with no fear of animals, hi-jacking etc, have several pitstops, enjoy "padkos" safely at view spots en route and arrive at our destinations safely....happily reunited with loved ones....now....?

[dalkill]

so if it is illegal for them sheep to be roaming alongside the road, then one could help yourself to one or two then?? this should be a deterant for owners?

[cprinsloo]

Yep, this is Africa! In the old SA the traffic police used to shoot stray animals, that helped a bit. In the areas where they didn't have jurisdiction (the black homelands), they couldn't do anything. AFAIK the law has now changed from "You shall keep your animals behind a fence, otherwise the owner is accountable for damages due to accidents", to "If there is a sign of a fence, but all the barbed wire has now been stolen, then it isn't the animals' owner's fault, it is the drivers' problem".

Apparently in Bots they are now going to try and make the owners accountable, yeah right, we'll see if that happens. In many African states you as the driver will be held accountable for the damages (deaths) of the animals. Apparently if you hit an animal they reccomend that you don't stop but drive to the nearest police station to try and sort it out there.

That is why one must NEVER drive after dark in African countries.

[Scorpion]

The law in SA is quite clear about any animals, and that is that the owner must always have control over them. This can take the form of a dog on a leash, a monkey in a cage or cattle behind a fence. The moment an animal causes damage, the owner is both criminally and civilally liable for damages. (I'm sure this differs substantially in other African countries, but we still have Roman Dutch common law...).

The owner will have no recourse whatsoever for loss of his animals and the injured party shall have a claim against the owner. Any damages has to be claimed from the owner directly, because the RAF (Road Accident Fund) only covers personal injury and not any physical loss, BUT as Simoan says it is only in the event that there are 2 vehicles or a vehicle and a pedestrian involved. The scary part is that all cattle in SA has to be "branded" (again this can take any form, as long as you can trace the animal to it's owner, but burning is the preferred method), but that is only enforced if you are a commercial farmer (read "white"... :evil: ).

I would not take the risk of shooting a stary animal, as the owner may argue that even if he was not in control of his animal, his animal did not pose a danger. This would not be a clearcut case, but it will cause you grief and headaches. Luckily near my farm the Police shoot any stray animals and then leave it for a week or so, before removing the carcass. All you had to do was call them and they would come out and do "the deed". This has really made a huge difference and in the last few years we haven't had any problems...

Good luck, but be warned this is still "Africa" and I wouldn't take the matter in my own hands (unless the bastards have already caused an accident... :evil: )

[Mud Dog]

Thanks Johann, it's pretty much as I thought. That's the way it's always been and is after all, logical and involves just a little common sense. The sad thing is that most blacks have this attitude of entitlement, rather than subjecting themselves to the law of the land and not only when it favours themselves. :problem: I would actually be curious as to whether these black stock owners are aware of the laws pertaining to stray animals, or are they just flouting it.

[Spartan]

It seems like the law is only for a certain group of our society, the rest just do as the urge arises :evil: :evil: