THE City of Cape Town was taking steps to go after the municipality’s rat population, after Western Cape premier, Helen Zille, was bitten on her toe by one.
“As with all large cities throughout the world with an ever increasing population, the problem of rat infestation in Cape Town is a reality, but steps are being taken by the city to curb the problem,” said health spokesman Lungiswa James .
The city had appointed waste contractors to collect waste in both formal and informal areas, provided rodent-proof dumping containers, and performed on-going community and school education on waste management.
The municipality had budgeted R530843 for rat poisons, with this amount excluding salaries and vehicle costs for teams doing the block baiting. The city had also engaged in a public-private partnership project within the CBD to reduce the rodent population.
Zille took to social networking site Twitter to announce she had been bitten by a rat.
Zille tweeted her 251000 followers around 6am on Tuesday:
“The weirdest thing just happened. I went to fetch the newspapers at the gate when a rat darted out, and bit me on my toe!”
Her followers on Twitter were quick to chime in with advice and suggestions which included go to the doctor, improve security at her Leeuwenhof home, and post a photo. Later Zille posted: “I have just looked up on Google. It says no one in the US has ever got rabies from a small rodent. But I will ask my doctor. tks for advice.”
Soon afterwards she uploaded a photograph of her toe. Her spokesman Zak Mbhele tweeted: “I know the City Bowl rats are mutant freaks of nature but if they’re starting to take nibbles out of people, we’re in trouble …”
Rat bites Zille, CT goes after rodents
“As with all large cities throughout the world with an ever increasing population, the problem of rat infestation in Cape Town is a reality, but steps are being taken by the city to curb the problem,” said health spokesman Lungiswa James .
The city had appointed waste contractors to collect waste in both formal and informal areas, provided rodent-proof dumping containers, and performed on-going community and school education on waste management.
The municipality had budgeted R530843 for rat poisons, with this amount excluding salaries and vehicle costs for teams doing the block baiting. The city had also engaged in a public-private partnership project within the CBD to reduce the rodent population.
Zille took to social networking site Twitter to announce she had been bitten by a rat.
Zille tweeted her 251000 followers around 6am on Tuesday:
“The weirdest thing just happened. I went to fetch the newspapers at the gate when a rat darted out, and bit me on my toe!”
Her followers on Twitter were quick to chime in with advice and suggestions which included go to the doctor, improve security at her Leeuwenhof home, and post a photo. Later Zille posted: “I have just looked up on Google. It says no one in the US has ever got rabies from a small rodent. But I will ask my doctor. tks for advice.”
Soon afterwards she uploaded a photograph of her toe. Her spokesman Zak Mbhele tweeted: “I know the City Bowl rats are mutant freaks of nature but if they’re starting to take nibbles out of people, we’re in trouble …”
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