Peacock killing case postponed

The case against a man accused of killing a peacock with a spade has been postponed to later in February for his lawyer to receive copies of the docket.

A trial date will then be arranged between the prosecution and the defence.

Philip “Joe” Oosthuizen appeared briefly in the Port Elizabeth District Court on Wednesday, where the matter was postponed to February 21.

He faces a charge of animal cruelty in terms of the Contravention of the Animal Protection Act and the Contravention of the Nature Conservation Act after he was filmed allegedly beating the large bird to death with a spade outside his Park Drive home on October 8.

The peacock’s head was then chopped off.

Defence attorney Alwyn Griebenow said he needed access to the police docket to prepare for trial.

The state, meanwhile, said investigations were complete.

While Oosthuizen, 63, has not yet pleaded to the charge, he previously claimed he had acted humanely by ending the suffering of the peacock, which was already injured.

The contractor who filmed the incident had been part of a group that included Fernkloof trustees who were in Newton Avenue between Fernkloof and St George’s Hospital at the time, discussing the construction of a perimeter wall.

According to the contractor, they heard a noise and when they leaned over the fence they found Oosthuizen, in the grounds of Fernkloof, where he was a resident, allegedly repeatedly hitting the peacock with a spade.

The video, which The Herald has seen but decided not to make public because of its graphic nature, shows a man — allegedly Oosthuizen — clubbing the peacock multiple times with the spade before placing the sharp edge against the prone bird’s neck and pressing down with his foot, apparently in an effort to decapitate it.

The man then stuffs the carcass into a refuse bag and walks off.

Oosthuizen is out on warning.