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Pityana neighbours in a froth
20/09/2007 23:05 - (SA)
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| This bull tied to a tree in the garden of Unisa rector Professor Barney Pityana, will be slaughtered for his daughter's wedding. (Marupu Nkhumise, Beeld) |
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Alet Rademeyer, Beeld
Pretoria - There was a hive of activity on Thursday at the official home of Unisa rector Professor Barney Pityana, with a bull tied to a tree in the manicured garden, as part of the preparation for his daughter's glitzy wedding at the weekend.
Passers-by were taken aback by the sight of the bull in the well-kept garden in Nieu Muckleneuk, an upmarket Pretoria suburb.
They soon realised what was going down when they heard of the planned wedding.
Pityana, who hails from the Eastern Cape, apparently followed procedure to get permission for the bull to be slaughtered at the rector's official residence at 17:00 on Friday, but his neighbours appeared to be less charmed.
Jade Shillito, who works a few houses away from the property, said it was absolutely shocking.
"It may be their culture and all but it's still wrong to slaughter a bull in a residential area."
Storm Diss, another resident, said bluntly that she thought it "absolutely disgusting".
Bruna Green said it would have been far better to take the animal to a butcher who could process the meat for the wedding.
Who is paying for it all?
Amid the unhappiness, various Unisa employees (who didn't want to be named) were asking who'd be picking up the tab for the affair.
Beeld newspaper heard this week that there was some special paintwork done to spruce up the home, and stones were laid to complete the picture.
University spokesperson Doreen Gough said on enquiry that Pityana himself would be paying all the costs involved with the wedding.
She added that it was "a private affair, and all the necessary procedures had been followed".
Gough also confirmed that Pityana had obtained permission for the bull to be slaughtered.
Beeld has learnt that 500 guests are expected to attend the wedding reception, to be held in various white marquee tents.
A spokesperson for Wedding Emporium, which is organising the wedding, didn't want to say anything and referred all enquiries to his "client".
SPCA to attend slaughtering ceremony
The senior inspector at the SPCA in Silverton, Rick Allan, said he knew that an application had been filed with the metro council for a permit to slaughter a bull, but it could not be determined by late on Thursday if permission had been granted.
Allan said an SPCA inspector had already visited the garden. He would attend the slaughtering ceremony to ensure that the animal didn't suffer unnecessarily, and that the correct equipment was used.
Allan said the SPCA also offers to conduct the slaughtering.
He said there'd been an increase in the number of applications from people who wanted to slaughter a bull at their homes.
There had been a similar ceremony on Thursday in Booysens west of Pretoria.
According to him there were about three such ceremonies a month.
- Beeld
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