6-month wait for post-mortem

2008-07-17 13:32

Durban - It would take up to six months to find out if KwaZulu-Natal's wandering hippo Nkululeko was behind the attack which resulted in the death of a 60-year-old Durban man.

Police spokesperson Superintendent Muzi Mngomezulu on Thursday said a post-mortem was carried out on Ben Dlamini, but that it may take up to six months to get the results.

The post-mortem was carried out by a state doctor at the Phoenix mortuary on Tuesday afternoon.

Animal lovers throughout the province this week lashed out at Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife and the eThekwini Municipality after Nkululeko was shot dead in Verulam.

Although the municipality had no confirmation that the hippo was behind Dlamini's death, it took a decision to have the animal put down.

In a statement, the municipality said it had to put down the animal "as a responsible municipality" because the hippo was a danger to human life.

"...but we are confident of our information and that what we did was the right thing," eThekwini's Christo Swart said at the time.

Nkululeko's carcass was buried at a landfill site thereafter.

Political parties have since called for an official enquiry to determine whether Ezemvelo and the municipality had done enough to capture the hippo - which had been wandering along the province's coastline for nearly two months.

- SAPA