I
T’S the first day of the 2014 Dusi Canoe Marathon. Two men — Siseko Ntondini and Piers Cruickshanks — sit in their K2 double kayak and ponder the enormity of the task ahead. Both have “done” the race before — Cruickshanks has multiple golds to his name, Ntondini a silver medal earned the year before — but this is their first Dusi in the same boat.
More to the point, Ntondini’s training regime has been interrupted by a stress fracture, which means the pair are starting right at the very back of the pack of 60 boats. To win a gold medal, they will have to overtake 50 other hard-bitten crews into the top 10 in a race famous for breaking boats, bodies and hearts.
What happens next is a story that will make your tears flow like Ernie Pearce Weir (the first major obstacle on the Dusi).
It is good story — and God knows, in these dark days, we need some good stories — and one that is now the subject of Craig Freimond’s epic Beyond the River, which in turn is the movie — loosely based — of
This story of two men and a river makes for compelling viewing, writes
Cruickshanks’ book Confluence.
Confluence is a memoir, a compelling account of a boy who wanted to run but ended up in a kayak instead. It is also the story of young black kids who see in an upstart outfit called the Soweto Canoe and Recreation Club an opportunity to explore a life that they probably would not have otherwise imagined.
The club and its enthusiastic members are the real heroes of the story. Founded by paddlers Ryno Armdorf and Jacques Theron, the club begins with a couple of battered boats being launched by excited kids onto the polluted waters of Orlando Dam. Ntondini was one of those young men who discovered that he had natural ability in a boat. That joy of discovering that you’re good at something shines from the story. It was not an easy path, though — there is a huge gulf between Orlando and the clean, suburban waters of Emmarentia Dam, base of Dabulamanzi Canoe Club, one of the fonts of South African paddling talent.
When Freimond and co-writer Robbie Thorpe decided to make the book into a feature film, they decided the story needed more drama. Quite a bit more, as it turns out — Cruickshanks becomes “Steve”, a man running as hard as he can from something in his past, and Ntondini becomes “Duma”, a township cable thief.
Beyond the River is beautifully shot and the performances are nothing short of epic. As part of their prep, Lemogang Tsipa, who plays Duma, and Grant Swanby (Steve) learn to paddle a K2 to the point where they can shoot weirs and run some mean rapids. In this they are pretty much alone — the supporting cast, which includes veteran Israel Sipho Matseke Zulu playing “Oupa”, a former gangster turned canoeing coach, get to stay safe and dry while the leads and the extras paddle down stretches of gnarly river for the cameras.
Paddlers will tell you rivers have within themselves the capacity to heal all manner of ills. The Umsindusi is no exception. It was first run by Ian Player and Desmond Graham in a 30kg canvas-and-wood-framed double kayak called Umthakathi in 1950, after which Player and his cohorts at the Natal Canoe Club went on to found the race in 1951.
It’s not just the river that is hard, but the bitter portages over steep hills, with a heavy kayak gouging holes in your neck and shoulders as you run. Still, they come, every year, for the pleasure and pain, to paddle this river through the deep and secret valleys of KwaZulu-Natal, because they can leave their troubles at the start and emerge at the end, in pain, carried by the river and renewed. For that thought alone, this is a movie worth seeing. LS
is in cinemas. by Piers Cruickshanks, Pan Macmillan, R220