Car spinning and illegal drag racing

By Sthabiso Mdledle

 Some people believe that drag racing is a bad habit that only increases the number of bad drivers on the road, while others take it as a hobby and a way of making money however here drag racers defend their game.

Mabena Bhengu is a well-known vehicle mechanic and a drag racer from Mandawe in Scottsburg, South Coast of Durban. He has recently participated in a racing competition for the first time in Chatsworth, KwaZulu- Natal in which he won second position.

According to Bhengu, this started as a hobby, something that he does on his free time when he is not fixing and panel beating cars.

“It started as a game, until the game got stuck in my head,” he said.

He said that he started watching car spinning videos and the idea of a powerful engine crowded his mind until he started racing.

This kind of sport has become an order of the day in most South African communities, especially in the townships. This has somehow gone wrong in UMlazi Township, where a young was showing off his spinning talents by getting out of his car (while it was still spinning) to let it spin on its own. Unfortunately he could not go back inside the car. The car then lost control and went straight to the crowd and killed a child.

However, according to Bhengu people get excited because it is exhilarating to watch the kind of driving skills displayed by some of these drivers. The problem is that most times spectators get carried away and start pushing forward towards the rink and that is when the real danger presents itself.

According to Francis Wowo, a regular spectator of the drag racing game in the Pretoria, there has been instances where drivers have lost control and veered into the crowd and in the process, people have either lost their lives or maimed for life.

However, a group of car spinning enthusiasts have actually succeeded in making the sport legal by staging shows under very safe and controlled environment but there are still incessant cases of illegal drag racing and spinning happening around Gauteng and other places which needs to be checked to avoid the kind of serious accidents that accompanies such activities.