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Chelsea Pieterse, The Witness
Pietermaritzburg - A zebra stopped traffic as he sauntered onto the N3 highway on Monday morning.
Oblivious to the commotion he was causing, the young zebra stallion casually walked up Townhill’s south-bound carriageway as cars weaved around him, while others actually stopped to watch the animal.
Monzali Estate foreman Sbusiso Gwamanda said he stood at the entrance to the estate, just off the N3, laughing in disbelief as traffic officers, FreeMe and estate staff tried to lead the creature into the estate.
Minding his own business
“I have never seen anything like it before. The zebra was just minding his own business. He was not scared,” he said.
Gwamanda said the estate manager had called him earlier to open the gate, because some people wanted to bring a zebra into the property.
He opened the gate and the zebra ambled in without any trouble or aggression.
Estate owner Rob Alexander said he had not seen the zebra, but knew he was somewhere on the property.
“I don’t know what to do with the zebra. I don’t know where it comes from or who it belongs to,” the bemused Alexander said.
Alexander would wait a few days before making calls to find out where the zebra came from.
Lead to estate
FreeMe manager Roz Marais said she received a call at 06:30 from someone who had seen the zebra walking around on the freeway.
Marais said FreeMe called the N3 Toll Concession and, together with staff from the estate, they were able to quietly lead the zebra to the estate on the opposite side of the road.
Speculation was the zebra came from the Queen Elizabeth Park.
Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife communications manager Musa Mntambo confirmed the park kept zebras, but was unaware of any that had gone missing. “I am not aware of any missing zebras. There might be one missing, but nobody has let me know,” said Mntambo.
When The Witness arrived at the estate on Monday, the zebra stallion was happily munching a patch of lush grass, seemingly quite at home.
