The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng is facing mounting backlash after a political stunt involving a stuffed giraffe head sent wildlife rescuers rushing to a Mogale City sinkhole, believing a live animal was trapped inside.
The party’s Shadow MEC for Roads and Logistics, Evert Du Plessis, used the prop to illustrate the depth of the sinkhole and highlight concerns about the danger it poses to residents and businesses.
The images were also shared by DA Mogale City representative and former Mogale City mayor Tyrone Gray, who used the giraffe prop in posts about the sinkhole and the municipality.
But the stunt had an unexpected consequence.
The Owl Rescue Centre said it received an urgent report that a giraffe was trapped in the sinkhole and sent a team to Hekpoort to assist.
The centre said its team was attending to another rescue in Midrand when it received the call and immediately left to help. After travelling to Hekpoort, the team discovered that there was no live giraffe and that the stuffed head had been placed there as part of the stunt.
In a Facebook post, the Owl Rescue Centre criticised the use of the animal prop, saying “for us, seeing a stuffed giraffe head, a wild animal that was once wild and free, likely shot and mounted, stuck in a hole for political points just feels wrong.”
The centre said the use of animal remains as a political prop showed “a real lack of respect and empathy for our wildlife and biodiversity”.
“To make matters worse, we were actually in the middle of a rescue in Midrand when we got the call about a giraffe trapped in Hekpoort. We dropped what we were doing, rushed out through heavy Friday traffic, only to find out it was a stunt and turn right back around to Midrand. That was a few hours wasted that could have been spent saving real lives.”
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