Surfers upset with ‘senseless’ lockdown regulations
The local surfing fraternity was up in arms last week as allegations of arrests by Bitou municipal law enforcers did the rounds on social media and by word of mouth.
The first in a tryptic of video clips shot and distributed by one of the town’s quintessential surf tuppies shows a youngster in the back of a municipal vehicle, marked ‘Bitou Public Libraries’, before being taken to Plett police station by law enforcement officers.
But according to Plett SAPS spokesperson captain Marlene Pieterse, no official arrests had been made.
Pieterse on Monday told CXPRESS that, notwithstanding the claims that two males – a boy and an adult -had been rounded up after a surfing session, there was no record at the local station of any arrests, detention, or fines issued in this regard.
“This is not the jurisdiction of police members but rather that of Bitou Municipality’s law enforcement department. However, I have received confirmation from them that there had been no arrests, even though surfing is still prohibited under Level 3 regulations,” said Pieterse.
Clashes between law enforcers and board-riders along the Cape coast started shortly after the hard lockdown was announced late March.
Times Live reported that, on Sunday, March 29, two men in their early 20s were arrested in Jeffrey’s Bay after surfing at the world-famous Supertubes. The two were transported to the local police station and fined R5,000 each, according to Kouga Municipality spokesperson Laura-Leigh Randall.
Another much-publicised incident on May 5 in Muizenberg, Cape Town, saw two men aged 65 and 52 arrested when they were part of a group of surfers wanting to hit the waves under lockdown conditions. They were released from custody and are scheduled to appear in court in August.
Official Level 3 regulations do allow professional surfers back into the water, but the question of social surfing under lockdown is still up for debate.
At a media briefing on May 30, Sports minister Nathi Methethwa made it clear that only professional sportspeople may resume training and that non-contact sports may hold matches. Recreational surfing, however, is regarded as a “complex” issue.
Sports, Arts and Culture department director-general Vusumusi Mkhize hinted that the matter was still up for discussion with surfing associations.
“This issue of water and the virus has been one of the more complex discussions based on science. There is a version of this virus thriving in cold environments and therefore there is a risk if they are a group swimming together.
“On the other hand, surfing is in open water – those are the issues we need to discuss,” said Mkhize, adding that they would liaise with Surfing South Africa (SSA) in this regard.
The SSA Facebook page echoes this sentiment: “Surfing SA is currently engaging with a number of sporting disciplines that we believe qualify and should be permitted to take place under the provisions communicated by the government under Lockdown Level 3.
“This is being done to ensure that the motivating factors in favour of resuming these non-contact sports are communicated to the relevant authorities. We assure surfers that every effort is being made to enable recreational surfing to be restored as soon as possible as a first step to normalising the sport.”
Perhaps those lawmakers should be privy to Plett surfer Dylan Reddering’s description of his session captured in our cover image: “It has been a truly epic swell the past few days, moving the sand at the point to resemble the super-bank of almost a decade ago.
“As surfers, our passion has been criminalised which leaves us little option but to stand up and claim it back. It’s not just something we do: it’s our church where we go to pray.
“Frankly, the beaches and ocean fulfil that role for most of Plett’s residents, so I hope our local government gives serious consideration to this fact for the well-being of their people.”
• Visit www.cxpress.co.za for more images and Reddering’s first-hand account of the ‘wave that got away’. Regular readers will remember that in June 2015 this Plett native, then aged 23, was attacked by a three-metre great white shark at the very same Lookout Beach surfing spot.
We will also keep you posted on a get-together planned for Plett surfers as soon as the current regulations are eased.