8 March 2024
“The whole of Kakamas knows about that sheep. The one that walks around the high school and even goes to class with the children.”
Bertus van Heerden, a resident outside the Northern Cape town of Kakamas, says the lamb even got the members of the Dutch Reformed Church talking after the Sunday morning service.
The white Dorper ewe that recently took up residence at Martin Oosthuizen High, an agricultural school, was named by the students as Martie Oosthuizen.
Joanica Marais, the school’s spokesperson, says Wilhelm van Niekerk, from the farm Poortjie near Pofadder, came across the lamb standing alone away from the flock.
Wilhelm is the father of 17-year-old Jan, a grade 11 student. Jan took the lamb to school where she is now showered with attention and love from all the students and staff.
During the day, she attends classes with the students, and in the afternoons she walks with boarders to the hostel, where she now resides.
The sprightly lamb wears a jacket specially made for her, adorned with the school emblem.
She also has her own pink lunchbox, which she sometimes carries on her back.
Marais says KLK Landbou has decided to sponsor Martie’s food to ensure she becomes a healthy school sheep.
A school’s pet lamb
When all the students are in their classes, the sound of Martie’s hooves can be heard in the corridors as she moves from one room to another, greeting students with a bleat.
If Martie is not in a class, she will walk to the office of principal André Mouton for a treat and then lie down for a nap. And when she’s playful, she’ll walk to the school’s magazine racks, grab Landbouweekblad (African Farming’s sister magazine) and parade around with it in her mouth.
Who cleans up after Martie?
The school calls them “poop scoopers”. Two students in each class take turns picking up her mess in the corridors and giving her milk.
Martie is now also the school’s mascot.
“We will later want to breed her through artificial insemination, which is part of the curriculum,” says Mouton.
“The school also offers an accredited Dorper course. Farming is our way of life. Martie will never end up in the pot. She will die of old age.”
Follow Martie’s school adventures on her own Instagram page at @hmo_martie.
