Zuma Calls Dog Ownership 'Un-African'
JOHANNESBURG — South African President Jacob Zuma prompted howls of controversy when he said in a recent speech that black people should not keep dogs as pets because it is "un-African." His speech was well-received by the audience in his home province, but it has landed him in the doghouse in the national media and prompted the presidency to issue a statement defending his comments, which they say have a deeper meaning.
Zuma said earlier this week in his home province of KwaZulu-Natal that dog ownership was a hallmark of white culture and that people who love their dogs more than other people have a “lack of humanity.” Zuma has said many controversial things in the past. Earlier this year, he said that women should not be single and that motherhood is “extra training” for women. He also famously described same-sex marriage as “a disgrace to the nation and to God."
But none of those pronouncements has brought out the claws like this one. Many South Africans, it seems, feel they have a dog in this fight. Twitter filings were instantly littered with proclamations of puppy love and photos of prominent black South Africans with their dogs. There was even an old photo of anti-apartheid icon and former president Nelson Mandela hugging what appeared to be an enormous Rhodesian ridgeback. More seriously, critics accused the president of race-baiting in a country that has for decades struggled with inequality and until the 1990s was under white minority rule. But for South African dog owners, the issue is not black or white. Winifred Sangcosi, a 57-year-old housekeeper in KwaZulu-Natal, sits on the committee of the Fundanenja Township Dog Training Initiative.
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But presidential spokesman Mac Maharaj says Zuma’s comments are being incorrectly interpreted. It is not an attack on dogs, he says, but a defense of South African black culture, which has been ripped apart after decades of oppression. “He was not saying that animals should not be loved or cared for, but what he was saying is that we should not elevate our love for our animals above our love for other human beings," said Maharaj. "And he gave an example in this context. He said, “we see people even today, driving in a van or a truck with a dog in the front seat. And sitting in the back in the rain and the most cold weather, will be an African worker.’”
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