Car spinning revved up to new heights

The motorsport car spinning has been fueled with a R5 million boost from the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture. The announcement was made by Sport, Arts and Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie, in Cape Town, on Saturday.

McKenzie visited the Kenilworth racecourse where he launched the Spinning Championships.

“Before we recognize a sport fully, we make development funding available for that sport. We have done it with netball. We’ve done it with cricket and now, we are giving R5 million in development funding. This is for them to get offices, to register the people, and to use the money to buy safety gear and make the sport safer,” said McKenzie.

The event was attended by a number of sponsors including Cell C, Redbull and Kappa, who are supplying clothing and millions of rands in funding in order to help the sport grow.

‘TO PROFESSIONALIZE THE SPORT’

“We are professionalizing the sport. This sport was run in the streets. This sport was run in the wee hours of the evening because the system was against the sport. That’s over now,” said McKenzie.

Furthermore, the minister stated that vehicles used for the sport should no longer be fined or impounded, as he believes spinning is not a crime.

“Stance is not a crime. Spinning is not a crime. The federation will now take those people to court. I will go and testify for the people who lower their cars, because that is part of the sport. You have to tweak your vehicle. Why do you want to take people’s cars. We will take them to court and I will be witness number 1 and say that this is an injustice,” said McKenzie.

🟡Sport, Arts and Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie is in Cape Town where he announced that the motorsport, Spinning is now officially a national sport. #smile904fmnews
📷🎥: Lizell Persens pic.twitter.com/TcY147Uq6B

— Smile90.4 FM (@Smile904FM) October 12, 2024

‘GRATEFUL FOR THE OPPORTUNITY’

Additionally, the chairperson of South African National Spinning, Mario Francis echoed McKenzie’s sentiments. He was overjoyed following the news that funding has been made available.

“We are all grateful. We had meetings with most of the spinners in all the provinces. We are busy with the structuring. We’ve got everything under control and we are all happy for the opportunity that the minister has given us,” said Francis.