The DA ‘sorry’ over stuffed giraffe stunt
· The South African
The DA’s Gauteng Provincial Legislation has responded to the backlash over its recent social media posts featuring a stuffed giraffe head, which prompted an emergency response from the animal rescue organisation The Owl Rescue Centre.
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The stunt, led by Shadow MEC for Roads and Logistics Evert Du Plessis, involved placing the taxidermied animal prop in a large sinkhole near Mogale City.
Social media users and animal activists have called out the political party over their “lack of respect” and “poor taste”.
DA RESPONDS TO STUFFED GIRAFFE STUNT
Over the weekend, the DA GPL trended on social media over its viral use of a stuffed giraffe head in a sinkhole. Its Facebook posts attracted hundreds of comments from angry social media users who labelled the stunt in “poor taste”, particularly as it sparked an emergency reaction from volunteers at The Owl Centre.
The animal activists revealed they had been duped into believing a real giraffe was physically trapped in a large hole. As a result, they gathered emergency rescue supplies and headed toward what they believed was a distressed animal.
They later called out the DA for “using a dead animal to score political points”.
The DA responded on its account: “We never intended this outcome and regret that the Owl Rescue Centre was called out unnecessarily.
“We support their important work and have engaged with the organisation. The giraffe prop was meant only to illustrate how deep and dangerous this long-neglected sinkhole has become”.
The DA added: “The real issue remains: this sinkhole was first flagged by the DA in February last year and has still not been fixed.
“Residents and businesses continue to live with the risk while nothing is done. We call on the Department and MEC to intervene urgently”.
‘WE’VE NEVER RECEIVED A FAKE CALL OUT’
Meanwhile, the Owl Rescue Centre has defended its decision to act swiftly on what it believed was a giraffe that was trapped in a large sinkhole.
The activists revealed that they had received a call and pictures from another animal rehabilitation centre that required their assistance.
The centre shared in a Facebook post: “I was driving from Midrand toward Hekpoort when I looked closely at the photo. Yes, it looked suspicious.
“I tried calling the original poster, but the number was invalid. I then called the lady who sent us the screenshot, and she was adamant it was a legitimate rescue. I even ran the image through an AI detection tool, which flagged it as a real photo.
“To double-check, I posted the photo on our Facebook page – which has over 195,000 followers – asking if anyone could confirm whether it was real or a hoax. Not a single person could confirm it was a prank. Across more than 24,000 rescues, we’ve never received a fake callout.
The rescue centre shared that an hour later, after loading up supplies like tripod systems, heavy-duty slings, and chain blocks, and driving 75 km towards the giraffe, it was notified that the image was part of a DA political campaign.
“Even if people intend to prank us, we will always respond. We will never ignore a call for help on the off chance it’s fake, only to find out that an animal was left to suffer. And just to confirm for everyone. That giraffe was a real taxidermied animal”.