Zürcher Nachrichten - S.Africa's daredevil autosport of spinning stokes passions

EUR -
AED 3.788155
AFN 72.718944
ALL 98.254223
AMD 409.346438
ANG 1.859197
AOA 940.590458
ARS 1064.181145
AUD 1.658917
AWG 1.859006
AZN 1.757387
BAM 1.959274
BBD 2.082893
BDT 125.330411
BGN 1.957016
BHD 0.388562
BIF 3051.010003
BMD 1.031349
BND 1.413206
BOB 7.12864
BRL 6.376009
BSD 1.031629
BTN 88.519962
BWP 14.337423
BYN 3.375986
BYR 20214.435919
BZD 2.072074
CAD 1.48985
CDF 2958.427993
CHF 0.937122
CLF 0.037784
CLP 1042.570254
CNY 7.550096
CNH 7.588886
COP 4490.389416
CRC 525.832398
CUC 1.031349
CUP 27.330742
CVE 110.459258
CZK 25.172546
DJF 183.291709
DKK 7.46185
DOP 63.011731
DZD 140.018257
EGP 52.337863
ERN 15.470232
ETB 131.72088
FJD 2.399128
FKP 0.81681
GBP 0.830193
GEL 2.903288
GGP 0.81681
GHS 15.16489
GIP 0.81681
GMD 74.776758
GNF 8917.682996
GTQ 7.959113
GYD 215.713087
HKD 8.021955
HNL 26.217234
HRK 7.397768
HTG 134.748935
HUF 415.922732
IDR 16708.262636
ILS 3.760901
IMP 0.81681
INR 88.467396
IQD 1351.396275
IRR 43419.783638
ISK 144.162329
JEP 0.81681
JMD 160.623257
JOD 0.731643
JPY 162.238422
KES 133.333166
KGS 89.727705
KHR 4161.378891
KMF 480.737487
KPW 928.213318
KRW 1512.854968
KWD 0.318175
KYD 0.859624
KZT 541.389984
LAK 22505.815871
LBP 92381.609613
LKR 303.027323
LRD 190.327486
LSL 19.360442
LTL 3.045305
LVL 0.623853
LYD 5.069941
MAD 10.404849
MDL 19.203051
MGA 4883.422458
MKD 61.557456
MMK 3349.780579
MNT 3504.522991
MOP 8.265456
MRU 41.272584
MUR 49.041024
MVR 15.886627
MWK 1788.771822
MXN 21.278463
MYR 4.644918
MZN 65.907033
NAD 19.36063
NGN 1590.549917
NIO 37.956752
NOK 11.72114
NPR 141.63214
NZD 1.837511
OMR 0.396811
PAB 1.031579
PEN 3.872009
PGK 4.132287
PHP 60.032238
PKR 287.294827
PLN 4.272724
PYG 8075.240591
QAR 3.760614
RON 4.976159
RSD 117.09216
RUB 113.890921
RWF 1441.155434
SAR 3.873342
SBD 8.646369
SCR 14.602044
SDG 620.360077
SEK 11.457574
SGD 1.413055
SHP 0.81681
SLE 23.518534
SLL 21626.871185
SOS 589.545373
SRD 36.131761
STD 21346.837283
SVC 9.025873
SYP 2591.294979
SZL 19.354381
THB 35.585296
TJS 11.270422
TMT 3.620034
TND 3.312173
TOP 2.415526
TRY 36.481285
TTD 6.997408
TWD 33.959534
TZS 2542.275067
UAH 43.473053
UGX 3790.721648
USD 1.031349
UYU 45.479983
UZS 13313.413504
VES 54.605466
VND 26222.042512
VUV 122.443792
WST 2.849398
XAF 657.122199
XAG 0.034809
XAU 0.000391
XCD 2.787272
XDR 0.791003
XOF 657.112625
XPF 119.331742
YER 258.223987
ZAR 19.31147
ZMK 9283.38026
ZMW 28.729664
ZWL 332.093884
  • RBGPF

    59.3100

    59.31

    +100%

  • SCS

    -0.0500

    11.61

    -0.43%

  • NGG

    -0.3900

    59.15

    -0.66%

  • RELX

    0.0900

    45.43

    +0.2%

  • RYCEF

    0.0200

    7.28

    +0.27%

  • VOD

    -0.0400

    8.47

    -0.47%

  • CMSC

    0.1800

    23.43

    +0.77%

  • BTI

    0.4500

    36.99

    +1.22%

  • BCC

    1.5100

    118.74

    +1.27%

  • CMSD

    0.2400

    23.7

    +1.01%

  • BCE

    0.5600

    23.82

    +2.35%

  • RIO

    -0.1700

    58.6

    -0.29%

  • GSK

    -0.4800

    33.47

    -1.43%

  • AZN

    0.3700

    66.25

    +0.56%

  • JRI

    0.2800

    12.42

    +2.25%

  • BP

    0.5400

    30.47

    +1.77%

S.Africa's daredevil autosport of spinning stokes passions
S.Africa's daredevil autosport of spinning stokes passions / Photo: PHILL MAGAKOE - AFP

S.Africa's daredevil autosport of spinning stokes passions

Tyres screech across an empty parking lot in Soweto as 40-year-old Nalo Jivhuho sends her black BMW skidding and spinning in a cloud of white smoke and fumes.

Text size:

As soon as she slips into the hotseat, the human resources developer becomes "Dankie Darlie", impassioned enthusiast of South Africa's increasingly popular daredevil motorsport of spinning.

In a tank top and braids, Jivhuho uses her tattooed left arm to spin the steering wheel as she forces the car into high-speed skids and stunts like the circular manoeuvre called a doughnut.

"If you are able to make a tyre pop, then you are pretty special," says Jivhuho, mother of an admiring teenaged son. "When you hear a pop, you are going to hear the crowd go wild."

This adrenaline-pumping sport was born in Johannesburg's sprawling Soweto township in the 1980s, when South Africa was still under the race-based apartheid system.

"It used to be seen as a gangster sport associated with people going into the white areas to steal these shaped cars, come to Soweto and spin them," says Jivhuho.

The underground image changed when spinning was recognised as an official sport 10 years ago; today it has fans and performers across southern Africa and big brand sponsors.

At its most extreme levels, the passenger or even driver will climb out of the spinning car, hanging from the window or roof in stunts that thrill the crowds.

- Fumes and fans -

A few hours before Jivhuho's training session, her four cars are checked over at her home by an all-male group of mechanics. "She can kill you for these cars," jokes one of them, Nqobile Tshabalala.

Jivhuho says: "Maintaining these spin cars is a lot but I have a great support system from my family and my team. Without them, 'Dankie Darlie' would not exist."

She wants to make one thing clear: she is not "one of the boys". "Spinning is a way of me expressing myself, expressing my femininity," she says.

"I inspire other females and that's a big thing because there aren't a lot of us females in the spinning industry in South Africa."

Young women are also among the drivers at a weekend show at the Wheelz N Smoke arena southeast of Johannesburg.

The atmosphere is festive as hundreds of spectators, some with coolers and shisha pipes, cheer on spinning crews who have come from across the country to show off their skills.

The noise and smell of burning rubber and exhaust fumes is intoxicating. Of the more than two dozen cars taking part, some have no hoods or windscreens; one is souped up to look like a New York taxi.

In some performances, a passenger leans right out of the car to hype the crowds as the driver pulls stunts and manoeuvres around obstacles. There are a couple of cars with just a solo woman at the wheel; in one, a mom and dad are in the front seats with their two children in the back.

Off track, men carry away shredded tyres.

"Man, I'm a petrol head, so anything that makes some noise and a lot of smoke will get me going!" says Chahid, who only gives his first name, as he watched from his burger stand.

He enjoys this arena, the oldest in South Africa. "It's secured, the kids are safe, families can come, it becomes a family affair," he says.

As the sport became recognised, the arena moved spinning off the streets and into a space that better protects spectators. "It is more of a danger to them if a car happens to lose control," says the owner, Monde Hashe.

"I started spinning when it was illegal," says professional spinner Iksaan "Iki" Khan. "When this place opened, we had more opportunities and more play time," he says, as he heads out to perform.

O.Meier--NZN