Mpho Elias Sema, showing where he was bitten by pit bull terrier dogs
~ Supplied
An ANC volunteer recounted how he miraculously escaped death when pit bull dogs attacked him and an elderly man in Mokopane, Limpopo.
Elias Mpho Sema, 24, and fellow volunteers had been walking along Pretorius Street when three pit bulls ran out of a property in the vicinity. Two of them attacked the old man and one attacked him.
“We were hanging election posters on the street poles when I approached a certain house in Pretorius Street. As I was walking near the house, I saw a remote controlled gate opening. Within seconds, three angry pit bull dogs came out.”
“One of the dogs then went straight to me. I tried fleeing and it was too late. The dog caught me and plunged its teeth into me. The dog hung on my hand and as I tried to push it away, it then went to the other hand and went for my legs. We screamed like small children pleading for help. People from nearby houses came running and they managed to save us from those vicious dogs,” he said.
Sema’s wound on his leg, after being attacked by a pitbull (Supplied)
Both Sema and the elderly man were taken to Voortrekker Hospital.
Sema was discharged several hours later.
“I am in pain. I am struggling to use both my hands. Whenever I stretch my fingers I feel pain. I don’t know what I have done to be attacked by those dogs. I don’t even know whether someone set them [on] us. I am lucky to be alive. If we hadn’t screamed for help, those dogs were going to eat us alive,” he said.
Sema showing where he was bitten by pit bull terrier dogs (Supplied)
The elderly man’s condition is not known.
“I don’t know where the old man was from and where he is now. I left him at the hospital. I have not met the owners of those dogs and I am demanding compensation. Those dogs must be taken away and owners must pay us for what their animals have done to us,” Sema added.
READ: Pit bulls kill 5-year-old Mpumalanga girl
ANC Waterberg region spokesperson Matome Moremi Taueatsoala confirmed that Sema was a party member and that he was doing work for the ANC when the incident happened.
“We visited the scene where the incident took place and we received information that there were visitors at the house during the commission of the offence because the owner passed away on Monday and she is due to be buried on Friday…The second victim is not yet identified and efforts are [being] made to trace him,” Taueatsoala added.
Limpopo police spokesperson Brigadier Motlafela Mojapelo confirmed that a case had been opened.
“We confirm that a case of assault [with the intent to cause] grievous bodily harm was opened in Mokopane after Sema was allegedly attacked by dogs yesterday at about 13:00. He was apparently walking on foot.”
No arrests have been made so far.
