The cows on Grahamstown's streets may have been picturesque, perhaps amusing, for visitors to the National Arts Festival during the past two weeks.
The cows on Grahamstown's streets may have been picturesque, perhaps amusing, for visitors to the National Arts Festival during the past two weeks.
But in an urban environment stray livestock present very real hazards and are themselves under threat, say two people at the coalface of the problem.
Manager at the Grahamstown SPCA Jorinda Gardner and Chairperson of the Grahamstown Stockowners Association Mike Mamkeli agree that cows shouldn't be on our city's streets.
Gardner was speaking at the end of the first weekend of the National Arts Festival, with 35 cows and 20 donkeys under her care, "We don't confiscate the animals," Gardner stresses.
"It's a bylaw that says they shouldn't be on the streets. It's the traffic police who, on the basis of a warning from the Makana Parks Department, take them and sign them over to the SPCA."
Because they have the expertise and the facilities, the SPCA is charged with caring for the animals at the municipal pound until their owners claim them. That can be an expensive business.
According to Makana bylaws, owners must claim their cows within seven days. There's a trespass fee of R100 to pay, a transport fee to get staff to where the animals are (R47) and a labourer fee (R33) to herd the animals to the pound.
"After seven days, they are either sold at auction or to the abattoir." Graeme College is the cows' favourite place in town, says Gardner.
"There's water in the stream, and lovely green grass." Other favourite grazing spots for the cattle are Constitution Street and George Street.
While many Grahamstown residents say they enjoy seeing cows on city pavements, Gardner points out that they are dangerous for traffic.
She said she was aware of two serious incidents involving cows in recent weeks.
A woman who was seven months pregnant recently wrote off her car hitting a cow in Dr Jacob Zuma Drive, she said, and during Festival a woman drove into a bull in African Street.
"The light was poor and she couldn't see it," Gardner said. She felt the stock owners association should step in to solve the problem because most of the animals weren't branded. "That means if they're in the wrong place and cause an accident, no one can be held accountable."
"It's unhealthy to have animals in town, and also it could harm tourism. That in turn harms the economy."
He says the solution is to give stock owners enough land. "There are no major industries in Grahamstown to provide large scale employment," Mamkeli said.
“If you live in Grahamstown and you have a family to feed and children’s school fees to pay, you’ve got to find a way.” Grahamstown is surrounded by commonage.
The area also has a huge market for red meat. If you have cows, you can feed your family., Mamkeli says.
There are at several stock owners who live in Grahamstown, and keep their animals in kraals at their homes at night. "Stock theft is a very big problem in Makana," Mamkeli says.
"That's why people want to keep their cows with them." Some of the cows graze on the municipal commonage; however, many wander into town, where there's often much better grazing.
"That's why you see strays," he says. He's emphatic that the livestock owners are farmers without land.
"These farmers need land with proper houses where they can live with their families," Mamkeli says.
He's speaking early on Thursday morning at Mayfield, where around 60 adult cows and bulls, and 20 calves, heifers and bullocks are kept overnight.
Five or six rangers employed by the Department of Public Works look after the cattle that graze on the Eastern Commonage near the N2.
"We've asked local government to employ rangers to look after stock near Fort England," he says.
The municipal commonage around Grahamstown covers a total area of just under 9 000ha.
In a mini-thesis for an M.Sc. in Conservation Biology by James Puttick describes its composition as follows: "The commonage is made up of approximately 4 397ha of 'traditional' or 'old' commonage, which has been owned by the Grahamstown municipality since the establishment of the town in the early 1800s, and approximately 4686ha of 'new' commonage which consists of previously commercial farms incorporated into the commonage as part of the government’s land redistribution programme.
"The 'new' commonage consists of two farms, totalling 1 766 ha, which were incorporated in 1994 and six farms, totalling 2 920 ha, incorporated in 2004."
Mamkeli says, "The trouble with grazing cattle on the commonage is that you can't do proper grazing rotation. "Farmers who have a lot of land are able to fence off camps and properly manage their livestock.
"The challenge for smaller farmers is they don't have enough land to make real money."
For example, former commercial farm Glen Craig is shared by around 10 owners, says Mamkeli.
The cattle at Mayfield, like many that wander free around Grahamstown, are a Brahman-Bonsmara mix.
They're good for meat. At the monthly stock auction at Hobson & Co, you can get anything from R3 800 to R5 000 for an animal, depending on the quality, says Mamkeli.
"You see, people could make a living from this if they only had land."
* Additional source: Municipal Commonage: Livestock, livelihoods and land degradation in Grahamstown, South Africa by James Puttick.
