The Traditional Healers' Organisation (THO) has condemned the brutal stoning of a Cape fur seal that culminated this week in the conviction of four Cape Town residents.
One of the perpetrators claimed the group was acting on the instruction of a traditional healer who had offered them R3,000. The seal was found close to death and was euthanised.
But THO acting CEO and national co-ordinator Masechaba Sedibana this week expressed outrage at the suggestion that the crime may have been linked to traditional practice. He told TimesLIVE Premium the convicted men deserved their prison sentences, which were suspended for five years.
“This is very unusual and there's no tradition that requires a person to slaughter sea/marine animals,” Sedibana said. “The greatest challenge is that people can't tell the difference, and they assume a person is a traditional healer because they are wearing beads and ibayi (the sangoma cloth).
“People must be aware that there are scammers and fraudsters who hide behind the traditional healer title.”
“As THO we go around the country hosting workshops about the preservation of wild, marine and botanical life. We work with the department of the environment, forestry and fisheries and minister Barbara Creecy.”
The four men attacked the seal on Cape Town’s Monwabisi Beach in January in a case that attracted widespread attention. They threw rocks at the seal while it was trapped and unable to escape.
SPCA wildlife officer Jon Friedman said: “Seeing the broken condition this animal was in when it was carried off the beach made my blood run cold. Not in 37 years of working in wildlife welfare have I seen such a case of abject cruelty visited on a defenceless animal that was in all likelihood just minding its own business.”
Most of the seal’s teeth had been broken off and it had severe facial and skull fractures. One eye had been crushed. It was euthanised at a veterinary clinic.
The incident attracted outrage on social media. “I am glad they got imprisoned, wish they were locked away for good,” said one of many commentators on a Facebook group.
Another post read: “Whenever I read posts about animal cruelty it makes me wonder about the mental state of the people committing these crimes. I cannot believe that any sane person is capable of hurting any animal. And that includes hitting or kicking any animal or intentionally starving them or denying them medical attention. We often only think of these severe cases as animal abuse, but it comes in so many different forms in our own communities.”
Brett Glasby, Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation wildlife programme manager, said there was much work under way behind the scenes to try to shift public attitudes towards seals. “Over the past few years, we have seen a shift in how people approach seals and their attitudes towards them. We are definitely seeing the seals and people sharing a lot of space with fewer incidents of potential conflict.
“The programme is working well in terms of showing people that they can work with seals and share an environment with them without conflict,” Glasby said.
A condition of the suspended sentence handed down to the four men is that they and submit a 500-word essay on marine mammals, highlighting the importance of wildlife and education for preservation.
