Cape Town - A traumatised mother said that she woke up to her daughter crying, only to find three giant rats gnawing away at her baby’s flesh.
Nomfundo Nkathazo, 26, said that the cat-sized rats reluctantly stopped their feast of flesh when she chased them off.
Her 11-month-old baby Thandolwethu was screaming in pain and covered in blood.
The rats had gnawed away at her scalp, cheeks, feet and hands.
The baby girl was released from the Red Cross Children’s Hospital this week after spending a week recovering from her injuries.
She even had to have a skin graft because the rodents had devoured so much flesh.
When the Daily Voice visited the family’s two-roomed RDP house in Philippi on Tuesday, mice were seen scuttling about the floor.
Nomfundo pointed to the mattress on the floor where she and baby Thandolwethu were sleeping when she was nearly eaten alive.
“They (rats) dragged her away from me, off the mattress,” said the shaken mom.
“I realised she wasn’t there when I wanted to breastfeed I looked around and was so stunned when I saw about three big rats feeding on my child. There was blood all over her, from head to toe.
“I immediately went blank and cried while I was still confused,” the emotional mom said.
The owner of the home, Emily Phangalele, 78, said that the property and area was infested with rats.
“There is this one bigger than a penguin. It is black and white,” she said.
She said that at first the giant rats would feed on mice, but now they are out for bigger prey.
Phangalele said she believed the rats purposefully targeted the baby.
“The fact that they dragged her off can mean only one thing, and that is to have their meat uninterrupted,” she said.
“If Nomfundo did not scream for help we would be talking about something different now.”
Phangalele said she had given up trying to kill the rats because nothing worked.
“Instead their size and numbers keep on increasing,” she said.
“I do not know when was the last time we had a quiet sleep here. The only sound we hear at night is the rats’ funny screams.
“They take over the house at night.”
Daily Voice