I found the article on the Ankole cattle breed in one newspaper intriguing, especially that Jacques Malan, the president of the Ankole Society of SA, in his obvious admiration of this special breed of cattle, says they will definitely soon form part of lobola negotiations in this country.

I was alone in the room while reading this article which I found so amusing, I laughed loudly with tears running down my cheeks. A cow which costs anything between R600,000 to more than a million is clearly out of reach for poor South Africans and only a royal bride would be worth anything close to maybe half or quarter of that price. Malan obviously has a great sense of humour.

I have to admit, it is a stunning breed – almost hard to imagine it being led to a slaughter house one day; just fit only for one thing: to be appraised and admired. What is its use anyway, besides the elaborate breeding process, and the exchange of huge amounts of money at auctions, a rich man's toy?

And there was that beautiful bull that sold for R1.65m. One never stops learning; for that kind of money, so much can be done.

Cometh Dube-Makholwa, Midrand