‘It’s a miracle the baby on Noma's back survived dog attack’

A five-month-old baby boy on his mother’s back when she was mauled by three dogs on Monday miraculously escaped unscathed.

The family of Nomathemba Kweleta, 28, from Bloemfontein, believe the baby survived by God’s grace.

Speaking to Sowetan, family spokesperson Vuyani Mantshiyane said the attack left the family reeling.

“The baby is in good health — we thank God for this miracle. He was on his mother’s back while she was fighting for her life during the attack on the grounds of that home.

Nomathemba had been doing laundry outside.

“We don’t know what happened,” said Mantshiyane.

Police believe the attack was triggered when Kweleta spanked her five-year-old son in front of the dogs.  

According to Mantshiyane, Kweleta, who was his granddaughter, had been seeing the owner of the dogs for less than two years and he is the father of the five-month-old that survived the attack.

“We are distraught, we initially decided not to speak to media about this but I was convinced to talk as other people believe talking about it will lessen the pain. We are unable to sleep. We are suffering from severe grief,” said Mantshiyane.

Asked if the dogs were familiar with Kweleta, Mantshiyane said: “She used to visit and stay overnight and leave in the mornings, but after the birth of the baby, she started staying with the father.

Despite the killing, the Pit Bull Federation of South Africa (PBFSA) said it still does not support the banning of the breed.  

The federation said while it was “very saddened” by the news of another attack, it did not believe banning the dogs, or any other breed, would address the problem. They instead blamed “irresponsible owners and backyard breeders” for the brutal onslaught on people. 

“Strict regulation, licensing and prosecution of perpetrators should be the focus. Banning the breed will result in bad owners moving on to the next breed and the same vicious circle will form with the same problems,” said PBFSA spokesperson Lehanda Rheeder.

She also denied the dogs involved in the latest attack were pit bulls.  

“We must reiterate that the dogs involved in the attack cannot be referred to as pit bulls as there is no scientific proof or breeding certificate verifying that statement. By the footage we saw of the dogs involved, I can tell you they are all possibly crossbreeds,” said Rheeder.

Contrary to the initial police report that the four dogs were all pit bulls, Bloemfontein SPCA inspector Werner Botha said the dogs involved in the attack were two pit bulls and a Rottweiler.

“When police attended to the case, they shot two pit bulls and a Rottweiler. We were asked to take the remaining Rottweiler and her puppies into custody. The magistrate will decide what will happen to the dogs. We only provide a haven for these dogs until the court case is finalised and we will respect the decision of the court,” Botha said.

In April 2023 the Sizwe Kupelo Foundation handed in a petition with 139,000 signatures to former minister of agriculture, land reform and rural development Thoko Didiza calling for a ban of pit bulls as domestic pets. The petition was launched after pit bull attacks on people at the time.  

The department then announced it would carry out a comprehensive DNA analysis of pit bull and pit bull-type dogs to establish what made the breed violent.  It launched a task team, which include the PBFSA, to work on addressing the issues.  

Rheeder said the task team had identified short, medium and long-term goals.  

“Short-term goals include proper education to members of the public as to how to treat these types of dogs. This is an ongoing project with the outcome only expected in three years,” said Rheeder, adding they were only halfway through their task. 

Free State police spokesperson Lt-Col Thabo Covane said the three dogs reportedly attacked Kweleta at about 3pm on Monday. The woman’s boyfriend was at work at the time of the attack.

The fourth dog, the one with the puppies, reportedly tried in vain to fight off the other dogs in a bid to protect the victim.    

Covani said a man was arrested at 9pm on Tuesday and charged with violation of the Animal Matters Amendment Act.   

Kweleta will be buried next week on Saturday.

She is survived by her two boys.

SowetanLIVE