Eastern Cape — A 5-year-old boy, Zibele Liyakhanya Mthi, succumbed to his injuries in hospital after being attacked by two pit bull terriers in a street in Dyamala village outside Alice in the Eastern Cape on Good Friday.
Family members of the late Grade R pupil are struggling to come to terms with his untimely death.
According to News24, Zibele was instructed by his mother to return home from his grandmother’s house so that he could be showered before attending church.
Family spokesperson Tabita Mthi said that his mother found him wounded halfway through the 10-minute walk to his mother’s house, laying on the side of the road.
After being rushed to hospital and spending two days fighting for his life, he died on Sunday.
ALSO READ | ‘Pit bulls belong in the wild’ – Pearl Modiadie weighs in on the debate
The report said that the SPCA had taken the dogs.
Mthi said that the entire community lived in fear of the pit bulls, with many having close encounters with the hounds.
“No one dared to come near that house. Everyone knew how dangerous those dogs were. That family usually kept those dogs behind locked gates. I don’t know how they escaped and ended up on the streets,” Mthi was quoted as saying.
In a separate incident last month, a Cape Town grandmother died at her home after she was allegedly attacked by a neighbour’s pit bulls.
The 88-year-old woman was found dead by her son in the backyard of her Bonteheuwel home, reports said.
TimesLIVE reported that on Tuesday the neighbour’s pit bulls allegedly jumped over Olga Grill’s “fairly high fence” and attacked her.
Ward councillor Angus Mckenzie said the community was saddened by this “horrific and tragic” death.
Follow African Insider on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
Picture: Pixabay
For more African news, visit Africaninsider.com
Compiled by Junaid Benjamin
