It may be an old Toyota Tazz but it must be the safest car in town. It’s owner need never worry about the car being stolen.
Who in his right mind would steal a car with a giant albino python curled up on the front seat?
People stood around the car parked near the Charlotte Maxeke Hospital in Parktown. They were taking pictures and wondering how the snake got there – but all the time keeping a safe distance from the car in spite of the glass window between them.
When the car’s alarm went off people started telling each other that the snake had set off the alarm and had even switched it off again. When the owner, a male nurse at the hospital arrived, he was not nearly as excited as the people around the car. He opened the door of his grey Tazz, picked up the snake and kissed it on it’s mouth, as if he was handling a suitcase, he packed the snake in the boot and walked away.
When reporters approached him, he said he didn’t understand why people were so excited about a snake. An employee from the hospital said they will never mess with the owner of the snake. ‘If he can handle that animal like that, what will he do to a human being who messes with hi?’ she asked. Some of the onlookers said a man like that should go and live in the forest.
Other people started saying it was the snake that had disappeared from the set of Generations : The Legacy but publicity manager for the soapie told us it was definitely a different snake.
Steven Maila from the SPCA said the snake, a Durmise Albino Python is not found in the wild in South Africa. he said the snake is not dangerous and it is not poisonous. ‘We don’t encourage people to have snakes as pets,’ he said. He added that as soon as they get the full details of the owner they will launch an investigation to see if he has the necessary permits for the snake.
Gauteng Department of Health spokesman Steve Mabona said that after finding a snake in a car on the premises on 26 February, they informed the owner that they do not accommodate any pets at the facility. ‘Yesterday he parked his vehicle outside the premise, next to the taxi rank’ said Mabona.
‘Employees are discouraged from bringing animals onto the premises’