Premier Sisi Ntombela said in response to the recent attack and killing of two boys: 3-year-old Keketso Saule in Hennenman on Sunday, November 20, 2022 and 8-year-old Olebogeng Mosime from Bloemfontein, that dog owners must ensure that their animals do not pose a danger to members of society.

On Friday, 18 November 2022, Deputy Mayor Mapaseka Mothibi-Nkoane delivered a tribute to Olebogeng and warned that come January 2023, no dog owner will be allowed to have a pet without a licence or any form of training.

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"As of January, nobody will own a dog without a licence. And where is the empathy? [Our conscience has died] so much that we see a dog’s life as more important than that of Olebogeng. I hope none of those people who have displayed absolute disregard for the boy’s life ever experience the pain that Olebogeng’s parents are experiencing.

"I am also praying to God that your kids must never die in the manner in which Olebogeng did. I am in serious pain because [if] the owner had been responsible, none of this would have happened," Nkoane-Mothibi added.

Premier Ntombela said the province already experienced three fatal dog attacks this year, with two of them taking place almost within a week in November.

At Olebogeng's funeral service on Friday, Mothibi-Nkoane warned that by-laws will be applied to prevent similar attacks. With respect to the keeping of a dog, the municipal by-laws clearly prohibit "any dog to attack, worry or frighten any person or animal or through negligence fail to prevent any dog from attacking, worrying or frightening any person". 

"I have been disturbed by reports of dog attacks that have to date claimed the lives of two children in the province. The deaths of these children are unfortunate because, had greater care been exercised, their lives could have been spared. 

"It is quite concerning to see owners casually walking with these dogs on our streets without a leash, and I call on all dog owners, particularly those of the pit bull terrier breed, to exercise greater caution. People are absolutely petrified of these dogs, and it is little wonder, given their vicious nature," Ntomebela adds.

Last week, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) in Bloemfontein announced that 49 pit bull terriers in the Free State province had been handed over. Also during the funeral of Olebogeng, a ward 19 councillor in the Mangaung Metro, Peter Qondile, revealed that residents had been warned to keep their dogs on a tight leash prior to the pit bull attack in Vista Park, which led to the death of the little boy. 

ALSO READ: 'Residents were warned about stray dogs prior to pit bull attack'

ANC councillor Qondile told mourners that just weeks before Olebogeng was attacked by his neighbors' pit bull, a message was circulated on their community WhatsApp group warning those with dogs to keep them at bay for everyone's safety. 

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