Years ago my late father was helped to get a special marriage licence by an old magistrate of his acquaintance in the small town of Umzinto. I am one of the fortunate results. That magistrate had an oblique role in an amazing event in Natal history. My dad first told me the story when I was about 5 years old, and it stuck with me and rang a chord ever since.
The year was 1931 (depression era). A hippo (known as Huberta) had somehow decided to trek south from Northern Natal. She did 1000 miles over the next two or three years, and became a local celebrity. The newspapers buzzed with daily reports of the hippos location and antics. It was certainly better than reading the business pages of that time.
And then a farmer shot the hippo and killed her somewhere in the Eastern Cape. It caused a quite substantial stir.
The story had a small secondary impact on the magistrate (then in middle age). He deigned it necessary to hang the national flag (an old one) at half mast to honour the hippo. The result was an official written reprimand from Pretoria for discrediting the national symbol. It probably affected his career.
In short ā Iām with the hippo and the magistrate.
It is topical today; after all we have recently had lions escaping from Kruger National Park. But in contemplating these things, it occurred to me that the best way to create empathy for our wild animals is to occasionally hang the national flag at half mast in Skukuza. It will definitely create some awareness for every time a rhino is poached.
