In a victory for the motorsport fraternity in the Western Cape, a section of the Lentegeur Sports Ground has been made available for practice purposes to spinning enthusiasts.
This comes after a cooperative management agreement between the NPC, Kaapstad 021 Supporting People In Need (Spin) and the City’s Recreation and Parks Department.
The agreement was supported by the Lentegeur Municipal Facility Management Committee (MFMC) and forms part of a broader agreement still in the process of completion and acceptance by all parties, the City said.
Mayco member for Community Services and Health, Patricia van der Ross, said the move is a step towards creating a safe space for practices, and formally establishing the sporting code.
“We have searched the metro to find a suitable location to accommodate the group in a safe space, suitable for their needs and appropriate to community dynamics. It is important to note that spinning practice, unlike formal events, is not considered an event and does not require an event permit. However, any spinning events still require an event permit under restrictive safety conditions, in addition to meeting other compliance measures. We have spent over two years finding an amicable way forward and we are excited to have reached this milestone,” said Van der Ross.
Spin representative, Chris Hadji, said Spin is more than informal motorsport.
“We are a registered NPC that supports people of all backgrounds with the proceeds we make from events, prizes at competitions or simply just through offering an alternative sport to the young and older people in our communities. We are grateful to the City staff and Councillor van der Ross for seeing this process through and that we finally have this agreement in place to establish our sport and grow our reach.”
Spin volunteer and motoring enthusiast, Shahiem Bell, said they have been driving the vision for the community for eight years and are elated with the milestone, having received the support of the Sport, Arts and Culture minister, Gayton McKenzie.
“It's been a long time coming, eight years to be exact where Jonathan (Schaffers) and I, with the support and assistance of spinners all around Cape Town and even from other provinces as well, kept this initiative to use this motorsport and culture to benefit local communities.
“This conversation between Spin and the City was one that took tons of education for both entities and is still on-going, as the culture is still very misunderstood by the public and policies aren't something our demographic easily latch on to. Finally we can do something about all the negative stigmas attached to spinning as we know it.
“This agreement is the beginning of the upliftment of our people who share and practice this culture synonymous to South Africa.”
Bell thanked the City “for seeing the value as well and ploughing in the time and effort to make this agreement come to fruition”.
The City said it is the first agreement of its sort and will act as a pilot to consider additional sites around the metropole.
Cape Times