Gugulethu community rallies behind family of boy mauled to death by Pitbulls

EDITORIAL NOTE: We previously used Pitbull rescuer Marizanne Ferreira’s quote out of context in the article below. We have since apologised to her and removed the line.

Community members of Gugulethu on the Cape Flats are rallying around a family whose four-year-old child was mauled to death by two Pitbulls at the weekend.

Milani Keke was playing with his ball when it fell into his neighbour’s yard. The dogs allegedly attacked him when he went to retrieve it.

His mother is currently being treated in hospital for shock and trauma. The animals have been removed by the SPCA.

Gugulethu Development Forum General Secretary, Vincent Domingo, says they’re supporting the child’s family.

“These Pitbull dogs are very dangerous so it’s for owners to be liable when things like this happen. Secondly, the children were playing and the problem that we have in Gugulethu is that we do not have enough facilities for young people to play like playgrounds and things like that.”

In October 2020, a three-year-old boy was killed by a pit bull in Cape Town, pushing back into the spotlight a debate on whether this breed of dogs should be banned.

Below is an earlier discussion with the President of the Pit Bull Federation of SA, Jeanette Erasmus, looking at whether this breed should be banned: