RATS GAIN HUMAN BRAINPOWER?

RESIDENTS of the century-old township of Alexandra in Johannesburg, South Africa, are battling one of their biggest nightmares with a cellular solution—trade in your 60 dead rats for a live mobile phone.

The campaign is part of a new NGO project, in partnership with mobile network company 8ta, to squash the relentless rat plague invading the township. The make of the phones were not disclosed in the announcement.

Alexandra local Locak Leo Ndabambi told South Africa's Mail & Guardian that the persistent rat population was a topic of conversation at any gathering.

"The place comes alive at night. When people throw the leftovers away after cooking dinner, the rats stream out of their holes," he said.

His friends also believed that the massive rodents have a taste for used condoms in their bid to gain human knowledge. "That's why some people think the rats are so clever," he said.

Doesn't take smarts, however, to see that the township provides all the right conditions for the rats to thrive.

The bin men come round only twice a week, as piles of rubbish lay about uncollected, giving the rodents the perfect building sites for nests.

The sewers are clogged and everywhere there's dumped food to feed the fat rats with a never-ending buffet.

"We need to educate people about how the food they dump causes the rats to grow," said Legora Marawa, the matron of a clinic that has a huge rat problem itself and employs pest control.

"We are afraid that the rats will take over the town and it will become a city of rats," added councillor Julie Moloi.

She said that the local owls were magnificent rat hunters, but residents continued to kill them because according to local belief, owls are feared creatures.

But more feared that the rats that have become so vicious even sleeping children have had their fingers and toes bitten?

Not to Ashford Sidzumo, considered the town's Pied Piper. Since the rats for phone campaign started a few months ago, he's slaughtered thousands of rodents—sometimes as many as a hundred in one night.

Another resident, Joseph Mothapo, has already received two mobile phones and plans to get one for each member of his family.

"It's easy—you put your leftover food inside a trap and the rats climb in and get caught when the trap closes," he said proudly.

All the trade-ins are recorded in detail so that the NGO can determine where the biggest rat problems are and send fumigation teams there. (Mail & Guardian)