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CAPE TIMES
Jim Sher, 33, uses his skateboard as a form of transport to get to and from work daily. Picture: Neil Baynes
A battle against skateboarding by-laws has been joined by a diverse group of Capetonians for whom the activity is not a subculture but a practical choice.
Jim Sher, a 33-year-old Claremont man who skateboards to and from work every day, contacted the Cape Times after reading about the longboarding schoolboys who call themselves The Noordhoek Group and who have lodged a formal application with the City of Cape Town to revise by-laws that make it illegal to skateboard on public roads.
The issue, which is under discussion by the city, was debated at length on two radio shows after the story appeared.
Sher says he endorses the group’s plea but for different reasons. “They want to practise for international sports and to ride to friends, but in my case I am a serious skateboarder and I use it as a form of transport to get to and from the place where I earn my living.”
He says that the route he takes to work is on back roads and is a short cut. He discovered the benefit of doing it when his girlfriend wrote off her car in an accident and he decided to lend his to her.
Also, it’s “much cheaper to skate and is also a form of physical exercise”.
He says that if skaters are considerate and don’t put danger in anyone’s way, drivers do not get upset. Other options he says should be considered are a licensing system – “though that will also have its limitations” – and the Noordhoek Group’s lobby for certain roads to be made “skateboard-friendly” at certain times of the day.
Gerhard Nel, who also contacted the Cape Times after seeing the story, says skateboarding saved him from a “black depression” when a back injury brought his time as an athlete to an abrupt end.
He says skateboarding is not the subversive cultural form it may once have been.
“We are not the skateboarders of the ’90s, grinding handrails and breaking bottles. We are educated, well-spoken human beings, deserving as much access to those ethereal values entrenched in our Bill of Rights as any other person in this wonderful country of ours.”
He says the solution to the dilemma is to “penalise reckless skateboarding, but allow reasonable use of skateboards”, and for the general public to gain a better understanding of what skateboarding is, as they sometimes react with “aggression, violence and fear” because it isn’t a mainstream activity.
Caron Joubert, whose son Oliver, 15, is part of the Cape Town Fizzers, says the activity does not get the credit it deserves.
“The great thing about ‘downhill longboarding’ is that the kids are outside in the fresh air getting fit,” she says, “and they are not in front of the television, or sitting for hours playing computer games, or hanging around in shopping malls.”
She says the Cape Town Fizzers don’t drink or smoke, and are not interested in drugs, but that they “love the adrenalin pump they get from longboarding”.
She also points to the responsible way of doing it, as “the kids are equipped with motorbike leathers and special helmets” but says the main problem is finding a safe place to do it. - Cape Times
tanya.farber@inl.co.za
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chad, wrote
chad, wrote
Jono, wrote
skateboarding is a multi million dollar global industry that has a history that can be traced back as far as the 1940's. The countrys best skateboarders are from Cape Town. The City of Cape Town needs to buckle down and build some decent facilities for this activity instead of outlawing it. Skateboarding will not stop because of a by-law and law enforcements time could be better spent on other things. Is it because it looks like so much fun that it irritates all the people that call for it to be banned? What a sad, bigoted, nanny state we live in. Go skate everyone.
G, wrote
I'm a skater. I practice downhill skating but where I use my board more is with everyday traveling. On average I travel about 20km to and from work. It's easy, practical and keeps me fit. Nothing beats wind at your back and road in front of you. Also Cape Town City has been promoting us being a Greener City. Is this not what they wanting in the first place non-motorized transport? @Dion you probably have as much balance as a local coming out of the Vic after a night with his boys. Go buy a Longboard.
G, wrote
I'm a skater. I practice downhill skating but where I use my board more is with everyday traveling. On average I travel about 20km to and from work. It's easy, practical and keeps me fit. Nothing beats wind at your back and road in front of you. Also Cape Town City has been promoting us being a Greener City. Is this not what they wanting in the first place non-motorized transport? @Dion you probably have as much balance as a local coming out of the Vic after a night with his boys. Go buy a Longboard.
Dion Malin, wrote
I agree keep the skateboarders off the roads- we pay a licence to use the road and our cars have lights, indicators, hotters etc- skate boards don not have them- why? Because thay cannot be used on the roads- just like bicycles- STAY OFF THE ROADS
Anonymous, wrote
Keep skateboarders off the roads. A couple of evenings ago on started off on the cycle path then jumped into the R27 and started zigzagging between the cars, banging on cars as he passed with his hand. Because cars were going slowly they kept having to brake for him. They are reckless and childish.
Anonymous, wrote
motorists has always got a problem with EVERY road user exept themselvs. if it's not cyclists they complain about, it's sk8boarders or pedestrians. i think motorists should wakeup and start to realise that they don't own the road and that there's more road users than only themselves.
Jason, wrote
what stupid laws get maid by officials who know nothing about the lifestyle. long live skateboarding.
Anonymous, wrote
I am all for people getting out there and enjoying their chosen sport or chosen mode of transport - however, I live in the Noordhoek area and the skaters that i have come across have absolutely no thought for their own safety, or for those in cars. They are often in the middle of the road coming off Chapman's Peak Drive or they skate down Chapman's peak on their bum's and as a driver, you cannot see them until you are on top of them - it is scary for all concerned! I am all for keeping these kids out of malls and fighting the boredom - especially on our side of the world where there is very little entertainment for them. But give them a safe space, and preferably not on the busy roads.
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