WHEN Paul Walker died suddenly many fans were shocked, but in a twisted way it was almost calming to know that he died in a car accident. He died doing what he loved and when friends spoke at his funeral, the consensus was that he’d not have wanted it any other way. It’s almost as poetic as Joan Rivers dying in a surgery-related incident.
Like Walker and Rivers, the participants in the show Spina Guluva are living their dream, spinning cars, and they too would rather meet their end this way.
Coming to you on e.tv’s eKas+ channel 105 on Openview HD, Spina Guluva brings you a South African sub-culture of drivers doing stunts with cars. Forget The Fast and the Furious, on Spina Guluva there are no stuntmen, no visual effects or green screens, it’s all real… a bit too real, if you ask me.
We were invited to the set of the show in Joburg and the drivers chose a tarred patch where the unqualified drivers learnt how to drive. It was an intriguing dynamic to see, on the one hand, a person struggling with basic parking skills, while on the other a Spina Guluva driver was doing doughnuts by spinning a car. If that driver was not hanging outside his car, he was jumping in and out of it, only just avoiding being run over. It’s an accident waiting to happen, only it doesn’t happen.
In the midst of all this action you have Khabonina Qubeka, the host of the show, and she represents that girl who does the sexy countdown when two cars are about to start a drag race.
“I am an adrenalin junkie and am attracted to anything that has to do with passion,” said Qubeka.
She did confess that the art of spinning cars was not something she knew a lot about and she learnt a lot more about it on the show.
“The spinning that we know is related to crime and gangsters. Yet when I got into this show and was exposed to these drivers’ families and their daily lives, it hit me that it’s just another passion some people are into. For them it’s the way I feel when I am dancing, sky diving or bungee jumping. It’s passion and adrenalin that makes this sport great,” she said.
The other dynamic she picked up on is that anyone can take part.
“The mere fact that I saw women and young kids also take part made me realise just how big it is and that it’s just like any other sport,” said Qubeka.
While she loves discovering more about spinning cars, Qubeka is not shy to admit that she has minimal knowledge about cars.
“I know nothing about them. When I interview the drivers, they talk about deep car terminologies and I am blank, but I learn. We open the bonnet and I learn from asking questions. I am representing the viewer who has no idea how cars work, so hopefully I ask the right questions. I also love that all of them have trade secrets and will not share some things about their sport and I respect that,” she said.
As with most countries, the law is strict when it comes to some of the things these drivers do with their cars so cops are a main feature of this show.
“I feel like their passion is being gagged by the law and that’s unfair. Of course it is dangerous, but so are many other sports. I think if the authorities say ‘don’t spin’, they should provide a place where spinning can happen legally. That’s the fight that these guys are in with the law as they find places in different provinces where they can spin,” said a passionate Qubeka.