Anger at bikers harrying springbok :: Namibia Internet Gateway cc ::

Articles: Anger at bikers harrying springbok

Posted by admin on Wednesday, April 14, 2004 - 01:54 AM

THE desirability of the much-publicised annual Desert Run at the coast is being questioned after a biker was seen chasing a springbok on a quad bike just outside the Namib Naukluft Park on Wednesday.
By Thursday morning, more than 10 calls had already come in from members of the public to the Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET) to report misbehaviour by the group of 800 South African motorcycle enthusiasts with bikes, quad bikes and four-wheel drive vehicles. One group of people broke down the Damara Tern fence between Swakopmund and Walvis Bay, while some bikers entered fenced-off areas by going in under the fence. Swakopmund resident Chris Baas told The Namibian he was driving on the road to Goanikontes just before the Swakop River when he noticed two quad bikes driving about 200 m off the road on the desert plains. "I thought they were just playing around when I saw one of them chasing a springbok right across the road." According to Baas the second quad biker stopped as his bike was giving problems. When Baas questioned him about what they had been doing, he confirmed they were chasing the springbok. "This is unacceptable that our heritage is being destroyed by people, who are not even from our country," said Baas who helped to try track down the culprit on Thursday. Several attempts by MET officials to find the culprit proved fruitless as there were at least ten other bikes that looked similar to his. "The fact that the bikes are not registered makes it almost impossible to trace the culprits," said Rod Braby of MET. The bikes are apparently not allowed to be registered in South Africa, as they are not roadworthy. Braby said the only way to better control this type of event would be to prevent by law any unregistered vehicle from entering the country. Simon Fourie from the biking magazine SA Bike and organiser of the event for the past 27 years told The Namibian yesterday the springbok incident had annoyed the whole group. "We had strong suspicions of who the culprit was, but could not identify him. We would have liked to burn his motorcycle." According to Fourie, every cycle will in future carry a visible number that is connected to the owner with all his contact details to prevent such an incident again. "We will handle the registration of bikes ourselves to ensure every member is identifiable. It will be part of the conditions of participation." He said they would like to continue the Desert Run for the next 100 years and therefore could not afford such incidents. He confirmed that all participants each received a 16-page pamphlet spelling out the rules, while two briefing sessions were also held before the start of the event. "We do not want to portray an attitude of 'we bring in large sums of money and can do what we want'." Dennis Basson who was in charge of the emergency services of the Walvis Bay Municipality over the weekend said it was one of the most successful long weekends ever. "There were no accidents, no fires or any other incidents. People were very disciplined and we would like to thank them for being so responsible." International SOS confirmed that it was a very quiet weekend with no serious accidents. Only three accidents with no serious injuries were reported. By yesterday midday most people were returning home from the coast, with 624 vehicles an hour counted. By 15h00 the rate had gone down to 484 vehicles an hour.

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