Johannesburg – National Council of Provinces chairperson Thandi Modise should make herself available for a parliamentary investigation over the deaths of animals on her farm, the DA said on Saturday.
“I will today write to the chairperson of NCOP… and request that she come out… and avail herself to be investigated by the select committee on agriculture,” Democratic Alliance MP Elza van Lingen said.
“If she has nothing to hide, then she will have nothing to fear. She must now break her silence.”
If Modise failed to comply, the DA said it would table a motion against her in Parliament.
Earlier this month, police and officials from the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) went to Modise’s farm near Potchefstroom, North West, and found that animals had been left without food and water for weeks.
More than 100 animals had died and others had to be put down.
Surviving animals had been cannibalising dead pigs, and were reportedly drinking their own urine. Sheep, geese, goats and ducks had also died on the farm.
There were no farmworkers on the property, no electricity, and the water pumps were broken.
At the time, Modise said the manager of the farm had asked for a leave of absence to attend an urgent family matter. She said she believed his replacement had matters under control and was shocked to learn that he had disappeared.
– SAPA
The Guardian 