Unanswered calls, locked gates and stray animals running rampant across Nelson Mandela Bay’s roads — yet the municipality has maintained that the pound is operational.
Following The Herald’s report on the situation on January 8, local nonprofit organisations (NPO) are still unable to make use of the municipal pound and say the city is overrun with stray dogs, cats and livestock.
While the municipality insists that the pound is operational, NPOs are still unable to report stray pets or livestock.
The tender to carry out the duties of the pound has been awarded to the Uitenhage (Kariega) SPCA since the 1970s but its most recent contract expired on October 27 2025, and the pound has seemingly not been operational since.
Municipal spokesperson Sithembiso Soyaya said on January 7 that the municipal pound was operational after a service provider had been appointed, and that it had “never really” been closed.
“The municipality operates its own animal pound and wishes to clarify that it is not legally obliged to renew contracts with any service provider, including the SPCA,” he said at the time.
“In line with public procurement legislation, all services are sourced through an open and competitive bidding process, which allows all qualifying service providers an equal opportunity to participate.
“No service provider is guaranteed a contract renewal.”
The next day, the municipality released a statement on social media confirming that a service provider had been appointed with a three-year contract.
Soyaya is yet to disclose the name of the service provider despite repeated requests for the information.
Local NPOs, including Animal Welfare and the Uitenhage SPCA, which is situated next door to the pound, insist that it is not operational.
The northern areas-based Animal Anti-Cruelty League’s spokesperson, attorney Karien van Schalkwyk, said last week that calls to the phone numbers provided by the municipality did not get answered.
“[And] when you phone the municipality animal control [number], even today, they will tell you there is nowhere for them to take the animals to because the apparent service provider is not on site yet.
“Nobody knows who got the new tender, when the new tender will start, what their qualifications are, or what happened with the tender process.
“It is false that it is operational, it is still not operational.
“The private organisations are still doing their work fetching strays and surrenders despite the false statement that the metro put out.
“This whole situation just sounds fishy.”
DA councillor Mthokozisi Nkosi visited the SPCA on Thursday morning after meeting the municipality on Wednesday to raise concerns about stray animals and a looming public health crisis.
“Municipalities are responsible for key functions in animal control, including impounding stray animals, preventing disease spread, enforcing public safety, operating pounds humanely, and educating communities on responsible ownership.
“The current failures in these areas are not just administrative oversights — they pose severe risks to public health, agriculture, and safety.
“The management of all of these processes has been mishandled, because the officials, from the email communication we have seen, knew well in advance that the contract with the SPCA was going to expire.
“In fact, the SPCA did remind them a couple of times since May 2025 that the contract was expiring.”
Nkosi said a briefing for the tender for the operation of the municipal pound was held on December 23 last year, and though the SPCA had a representative present at the briefing, they were forced to withdraw their application as it was not possible to submit it before the December 31 deadline.
“The only service provider that was able to submit for this tender was a company called Busy Bee, and because they were the only company that were able to bid, they were awarded the tender.”
He said Busy Bee has been awarded R750,000 for a six- to 12-month contract.
The Herald was unable to find any record of a business named Busy Bee, aside from a furniture removal company in Johannesburg, which had no knowledge of a tender and said it only did furniture removals in Gauteng.
Nkosi said there had been a number of complaints from ward councillors across the metro involving multiple issues that stemmed from stray animals, including motor vehicle accidents and disease.
“The lack of effective animal control, particularly for stray cattle, is seriously concerning amid the ongoing foot and mouth disease [FMD] outbreak spreading across the country.
“Without proper impoundment and monitoring, uncontrolled cattle can easily transmit FMD, threatening legitimate farmers who are diligently complying with legal requirements set by the department of agriculture.”
Nkosi also said the risk of rabies was rife in the Bay.
“Another critical issue is the potential eviction of the SPCA, which has occupied the land for over 50 years, predating the municipal pound’s construction.
“This threatens their vital role in animal welfare and community services, including significant investments in infrastructure.
“However, we expect the appointed service provider to immediately assist with the crisis.”
The SPCA is situated next to the municipal pound on municipal property.
Uitenhage SPCA chair Deirdre Swift said the possible eviction of the SPCA would be detrimental to animal welfare in the Bay.
“If there is a possibility that the SPCA might be asked to leave the premises, it is obviously a grave concern because we have got nowhere else to go currently, and shutting down the SPCA would be a sad day for animal welfare.
“The SPCA has been operating in Kariega since 1916 and during that time we have served the community and the animals within the community, and there isn’t another welfare organisation in the area and surrounding areas.”
Soyaya failed to comment on the situation after multiple queries from The Herald over several days.
The Herald
