Durban atmosphere will never be the same
JUNE and July normally herald the winter school holidays and it is a time when the circus comes to town. It is also when Durban is usually abuzz with two mega events in the form of Africa’s richest horse race, the Durban July, and the world famous ultra marathon, the Comrades Marathon.
There is an electric and galvanic pulse that throbs through Durban as the excitement reaches fever pitch. Add to that the arrival of the greatest shoal on Earth, and Durban is certainly the place to be.
But not this year! The coronavirus beat the sardines in arriving on our shores. The Comrades has been cancelled and the July will be run at the Greyville Racecourse without spectators. Our children are going back to school when they should be on a winter break. The atmosphere will never be the same. The best times have come and gone, never to return.
I watched a Bayern Munich football match last week being played in an empty stadium. The game seemed less of a contest and more of an act of passing the ball around. A matador can find no glory when the bull refuses to lunge for the red muleta because there is no crowds to spur him on. The same applies to other sporting codes.
The hospitality industry is in big trouble. From a turbulent national airline to a bankrupt rail system and half-full minibus taxis, our transport systems are in shambles.
How will betting work for the “big day”. Everything will be online. There will be no bookie’s rooms or punter’s betting houses (Tab) open for gamblers. However, they can sit at home with their favourite tipple and sardine bites and watch the race on television. Many will feel incongruous but this is the reality of the situation.