By Charl van Rooyen
When Mianter de Wet, a sixteen-year-old schoolboy from Polokwane, climbed onto the back of a massive Chianina bull, the animal threw him off with such force that he landed on a 2.4-metre-high game fence. Miraculously, he sustained only an injured ankle.
A video of the incident on Sunday, 9 March, shared on Facebook, quickly got over 100 000 views.
Mianter, whose real name is Marthinus Wouter – named after one of his grandfathers, and his best mate Johan Scholtz spent the weekend at the De Wet family farm near Polokwane. Both friends are in Grade 11 at Pietersburg High School.
On the Sunday morning, they felt like horse riding, but the horses had not yet been broken in, so they decided to ride a bull, rodeo-style.
Johan, whose father is also named Johan and owns a cattle farm near Ventersdorp, initially tried to mount a bull but found it difficult to climb onto its back. Then, they came across another Chianina bull peacefully resting beside a game fence.
Mianter crept up from behind and leapt onto its back. The startled bull jumped up instantly, flinging Mianter into the air so high that he landed on top of the fence. His right ankle got caught between two barbed wires, and he hung on the fence for a moment before crashing to the ground in a cloud of dust, landing on his feet.
Johan, who filmed the incident on his mobile phone, laughed hysterically and shouted Mianter’s name.
The Chianina, the largest cattle breed in the world, is known as the gentle giant of the cattle industry. Mianter says he did not expect the bull to leap so wildly. “When the bull jumped, I felt myself land on the fence.”
Louis, who owns the Elevato Chianina stud, says he flew to Cape Town that day, and the boys had remained completely quiet about the incident. The first he heard about it was when an acquaintance in New Zealand texted him asking if it was Mianter in the video, as he could hear his distinctive name being called out.
A family member from Switzerland also told him she had seen the video.
Fortunately for Mianter, his father was in Cape Town; otherwise, he might have found himself in much bigger trouble than merely a fall on the other side of the fence.
Louis is no longer angry, but he shudders to think about what could have happened. Furthermore, Mianter has been chosen for South Africa’s under-17 wrestling team that will compete in the African Championships in Morocco at the end of April.
“His ankle is better now and he has already begun training again,” notes Louis dryly, mentioning that his son has gained “great fame” in the process.
Christiaan de Jager, who also breeds Chianinas, requested Landbouweekblad (African Farming’s sister publication) to locate the “rider” as he wished to offer him R1 000 for his “record.” He says more than 100 000 people have already viewed the video on his Facebook page.
He laughed heartily when Landbouweekblad called to tell him the youngster had been found. He said he would arrange for Mianter to receive the prize money “for the record height.”
As is often the case on Facebook, there were negative comments about the incident, including claims that the rider was “drunk”.
In response, Johan says: “Uncle, we’re only sixteen and aren’t allowed to drink. It was Sunday morning at eleven o’clock.”
Will he try to ride a bull again? “No, never!” says Mianter.
