More evidence gathered for Harry Giddey Park case

MOSSEL BAY NEWS - The Garden Route SPCA has said it is in the process of gathering additional evidence against the Mossel Bay Municipality before laying a criminal charge against it.

Cheri Cooke, the Garden Route SPCA's area manager, told Mossel Bay Advertiser on Wednesday 16 July that the SPCA had not yet laid its criminal charge as it was in the process of gathering more evidence, under various acts, before it submits its docket for prosecution.

In a statement on 8 July, the SPCA announced that it would be laying criminal charges against the municipality under the Animal Protection Act 71 of 1962.

This was after the society said it had found severe cases of animal cruelty and neglect in Harry Giddey Park, which led to the euthanisation of 52 tortoises and several birds due to highly contagious and incurable illnesses and worm infestations in October.

The Mossel Bay Municipality is the autho-rity over the park and the animals kept in it. In November, the municipality commis-sioned an internal investigation.

The findings were made public in late June this year. Some of these included unauthorised animal sales, animal neglect and euthanisation, and asset mismanagement. It also found non-compliance at the park in terms of the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA), and the municipality's supply chain management and asset management policies.

During a meeting on 27 June, it was recommended to Council that the Municipal Manager, Colin Puren, determine the necessity for reporting any disciplinary actions in terms of the Financial Misconduct Regulations.

Through the Advertiser's enquiries to CapeNature last year, it was discovered that the permit for the municipality to keep tortoises and some species of birds at the park had expired in 2022.

The permit's conditions disallowed the permit holder (the municipality) from buying, selling, donating or receiving donations of animals. CapeNature's spokesperson, Luke Folb, told the Advertiser on Tuesday 15 July that it was engaging with the municipality on its unauthorised sale of animals at the park.

The Advertiser asked the municipality on Tuesday if it had taken any disciplinary action against municipal staff in connection with Harry Giddey Park, if the municipality would make the review available to the public and to the media, if CapeNature had followed up regarding the unauthorised animal sales and if the municipality had had any talks with the SPCA following its statement of its intention to lay criminal charges.

The response: "The municipality stands by the media statement on the matter, issued on 27 June 2025."

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