NEWS
Donkeys stolen for illicit hide exports
Move over , the rhinoceros , there ' s another , albeit much humbler , animal that is reportedly being targeted by Chinese medicine-men , not for its horn ( because it doesn ' t have any ), but for its hide which , apparently , when processed yields ejiao , a gelatin used in traditional medicine . It ' s the donkey , and there are reports of donkeys having disappeared all over the country in recent months , as well as in other African countries , some of which have banned all donkey exports lest their national herds be decimated entirely . In some cases the spate of donkey thefts has reached epic proportions . There are said to be at least three villages in Limpopo from which all the donkeys have disappeared . Which is a major problem for the
Despite a number of prominent transport economists having labelled it illogical and unviable, the Moloto Rail Development Corridor is set to become a reality , following the signing last month of a memorandum of understanding between the Passenger residents as the loss of a donkey to a rural peasant is the equivalent of the hijacking of a car and the theft of a tractor from a more affluent person , as donkeys are traditionally used for transport , as well as for working the soil using small animaldrawn implements . And , if the theft of the beast is not awful enough , its treatment by the thieves
Rail Agency of SA ( Prasa ) and the China Communications Construction Co . The Moloto rail project ' s main objective is to ensure that passenger rail is the backbone of an integrated multi-modal transport system linking Pretoria with KwaMhlanga and beyond , passing through before it meets its ultimate fate , namely death , can be barbaric . Because the animals are stolen only for their skins scant attention is paid to such niceties as feeding and watering . In July the farm animal unit of the SPCA was reported as having to euthanase 70 donkeys found in appalling conditions on a Chineseowned farm in the Free State .
Chinese to build ‘ unviable ’ Moloto line
three provinces , and replacing the notoriously dangerous Moloto road which , despite a multi-million rand upgrade in recent years , is still one of South Africa ' s most notorious killer-roads . The project will entail the construction of 13 new train
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