On closer inspection it also emerged that the rope was not tied on the other end and yet the bull could not free itself. Police rounded off stock farmers from the villages of Mzinti, Phiva and Kamdladla but most of them denied any ownership of the trapped bull. Apparently buoyed by the heightened interest in it, the beast suddenly rose to its feet to the amazement of the police who had thought that it had been injured. It was shepherded to the Tonga police station where it was kept for identification.

Still, no one came forward to claim it and this has since set tongues wagging. “There can only be one explanation to this. This bull had been used for cleansing purposes and the idea is that whoever kills it will then inherit the misfortunes of the person who had used it as the proverbial scapegoat,” said a source on condition of anonymity. Whereas it has become common for chickens to be used during cleansing rites and subsequently being left stranded in the veld, incidents of bulls being used for the same purpose are as scarce as snow in the Lowveld.

Attempts to get a comment form the Traditional Healers’ Organization (THO) in Nkomazi proved futile at the time of going to print.

Meanwhile, an infant was discovered almost in the same vicinity where the bull had been trapped. The baby had apparently been dumped there just a few hours after birth.

“We have been shocked by both incidents. In the first instance an act of cruelty to an animal has been committed and it is not clear at this stage what the purpose was. Secondly, an infant was dumped and we consider this in a very serious light. What kind of a mother does that to her child? There are legal ways of giving up a child for adoption and dumping is certainly not one of those. We appeal to anyone with information to come forward to the police,” Constable Mzwandile Nyambi of the Tonga police said