Komani’s culture is in for a spin
ADRENALINE junkies had better hold on to their seats as the new motor-spinning culture hits Komani.
The craze, initially created by gangsters to display their motor-spinning skills at funerals, fast grew into a sport in South Africa and Komani is not missing out on the action.
A number of local “spinners” who are working on modifying their cars, have been taking to the streets, dazzling people with their skills.
Burning and screeching tyres and smoke that blocks out the sun, have had eager crowds gathering to watch the action.
George Summerton, affectionately known as “Papa G”, has been spinning for a year and participated in an event in Mdantsane on June 16.
“Spinning began for me when I was in Port Elizabeth. Usually I would go with my cousins to watch spinning shows and there was this one guy from King William’s Town – he came second on the reality TV competition So You Think You
can Spin – but even before that, I could see that this guy knew his story.”
He said the drivers wanted support from the
municipality in terms of a designated spot for spinning.
“Even if we have to fix it up ourselves, we will.”
He said a place like the Bonkolo Dam where events could be hosted for the community, or a place closer to the residential areas would be suitable.
“A lot of children come and watch us and aspire to be like us. It will help to keep the children off the streets and away from drugs and alcohol abuse and things like that.”
The group was also hoping for sponsorships from vehicle dealerships to allow the members to enter competitions as representatives of Komani.
Summerton said if he got a sponsor before the upcoming auditions of ‘So You Think You Can Spin’, he would enter the competition. Costs in transporting the vehicle to trials in Durban, Cape Town, Johannesburg and Kimberly, were prohibitive.
He said community support had been phenomenal, with people even donating petrol.
Summerton’s mechanic, Niven Haripersad, said they were trying to create a show for the pleasure of the community including the children, in an attempt to motivate them to work hard so they could afford vehicles.
It would also be beneficial if Komani could host shows for spinners from out of town, he said, once a designated spot was available.
Last month, Motorsport South Africa CEO Adrian Scholtz said it was trying its best to elevate spinning to a more professional level and to make it more attractive to government and corporate South Africa.
Efforts to embrace spinning were taking longer than expected, mainly due to challenges in enforcing safety measures for both competitors and spectators, while not losing the essence of the sport.
MSA has called for spinning participants in the country to mandate representatives to allow engagements, with Monde Hashe from MSA tasked to identify provincial representatives with the view to establish a national spinning working group. He can be contacted on monde@elalinisurveys.co.za