DYSFUNCTIONAL POUND: R286 a day to feed a dog? Law firm’s pound report raises questions

If one is to believe the pricing schedule of services provided at the Nelson Mandela Bay municipal pound earlier this year, stray dogs were treated like royalty.

In fact, they were doing better than most children benefiting from government-subsidised feeding schemes at early childhood development centres across the country.

While the Department of Basic Education is providing daily meals to needy kids at R9.60, the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality was forking out R286 a day to fill a stray dog’s bowl. 

A further R200 was charged a day to clean each dog’s kennel.

While cats got the short end of the stick, it still cost R165 a day to feed each stray.

These figures came to light in a report compiled by the SPCA’s attorneys when they were investigating what they believed to be irregularities in the awarding of the tender for the management of the City’s pound.

“Earlier this year many questions went unanswered regarding the tender surprise of the Kariega pound, and we undertook to investigate the matter. We have addressed these findings with the municipality and we have not received the courtesy of a response,” Hein Scholtz, director at Bowden-Gilfillan and Scholtz Inc, said in the report.

He said the firm deemed the information to be in the public interest as it directly impacted on effective service delivery to the residents of Nelson Mandela Bay.

The report concerns the awarding of the municipal pound tender to service provider Busy Bees, which took over operations at the municipal facility in January 2026, after the SPCA had been managing the pound on behalf of the city for more than 50 years.

Operations were brought under the spotlight in March when the Animal Anti-Cruelty League (AACL) brought an urgent high court application for services to improve. This came after repeated visits to the municipal facility in Kariega by AACL officials revealed major shortcomings in the treatment of impounded animals, as well as the expertise of people on-site and the equipment available to them.

The court order stipulated that Busy Bees should improve the living conditions of the animals in its care and that the municipality assist it with the appointment of qualified staff.

Busy Bees’ contract lapsed in June and a formal tender to appoint a service provider on a three-year contract was advertised. This contract has not been awarded yet, and subsequently an informal tender went out to fill the gap until the long-term contract had been finalised.

But Scholtz said the new tender process led to his firm scrutinising the previous contract that was awarded, raising several red flags.

Questionable pricing

According to the document submitted for the six-month contract awarded in January 2026, Busy Bees charged R286 a day to feed a single dog, while a single cat’s food a day was R165.

Cleaning the dog kennels came at a cost of R200 a kennel, while the catteries were cleaned at R360 each a day.

If the pound received a call about a stray animal somewhere in the city which required a drive to collect it, they would charge R5 a kilometre to retrieve the animals during business hours, between 8am and 4.30pm.

However, according to the tender document, the price for collections after hours, or during weekends and public holidays, skyrocketed to R725 a kilometre.

By comparison, in 2025, during the SPCA’s tenure at the pound, it cost the metro R17.37 a day to feed each dog and cat. 

To clean a kennel and a cattery cost R9.35 a day.

Collecting an animal during office hours was slightly higher, at R5.88 a kilometre, but the rate remained the same regardless of the hour or whether the collections were done over weekends or public holidays.

The law firm’s report further highlights questionable payments to the service provider, which exceeded the R750,000 allocated for the tender, and questions the process around the awarding of tenders.

When asked about the pricing of the services provided by Busy Bees, municipal spokesperson Sithembiso Soyaya said the rates were found to be “fairly comparable.” 

“The services were rendered during different periods, and the associated costs may have been affected by factors such as inflation, changes in the Consumer Price Index, operational expenses and other market-related cost determinants. A direct comparison of the rates without considering these variables would therefore not provide a complete or accurate reflection of the costs involved,” Soyaya said.

Busy Bees could not be reached for comment.

Services being provided … or not

Upon visiting the pound in Kariega earlier this week, sections of the facility did not seem to be operational.

Access could not be gained to the kennels and catteries, but an external gate to the section of the property reserved for impounding stray cattle revealed facilities in disarray. Fencing was badly rusted, roofs were in a state of disrepair and it was covered in overgrown grass and weeds. 

A staff member at the SPCA, who still occupied a section of the property, confirmed that operations at the pound had all but come to a standstill.

“I honestly cannot tell when was the last time I saw someone come or go from this facility. I don’t even think they have the property vehicles or equipment to collect a stray dog, never mind stray cattle.”

The staffer said one of their field workers was called to a scene in Kariega, in the affluent neighbourhood of Vanes Estate, earlier this month to assist with a cow that had injured its leg and had to be euthanised. 

“Normally, the animals would be brought to the pound for the procedure to be done at the facility, however, the pound did not have a vehicle available, and the field worker had to shoot the cow there in the open field. 

“And then, there was no vehicle to collect the carcass. That cow was there for more than a week.”

The person said no one from their team had access to the pound for some time, so they were unsure if there were currently any dogs or cats.

Scholtz said nonprofit animal societies had picked up the slack. 

Between January and September, the Animal Welfare Society in Gqeberha collected 1,028 pets that had been surrendered by their owners, as well as a further 642 stray animals. Over the same period, the AACL had taken in 817 surrendered pets and 343 strays, while the SPCA had 1,560 surrendered pets and 229 strays at their facility.

Despite these figures, Soyaya said the municipal pound remained operational and that a new service provider had been appointed to assist with the day-to-day management and operation of the facility.

“The municipality remains responsible for overseeing the facility and ensuring that its operations are conducted in accordance with applicable municipal policies, procedures and contractual obligations,” Soyaya said. DM