Superdrift Series

Report by Robert Mabusela

Spin City to take center stage

 

It is without a doubt that Soshanguve township entertainment sector is vibrant compared to other townships.  Sosh Spin Kingz famously known as SSK are one of the reasons  why Soshanguve (Sosha) is been highly praised when coming to hosting spinning events, which are compressed with  drifting, stunts, donuts and show & shine.

Local Spinning crew SSK is a spinning crew that also organizes spinning events within Pretoria. Since its inception in 2009, SSK has hosted over 10 events between Soshanguve and Pretoria West whereby most popular names within the spinning game have already graced SSK events such as Jeff James, Magesh, Lahri Brothers, Hemoo, and Sunesh just to mention but a few. The support keeps increasing after each and every event due to the fact that events hosted have different line-up`s as compared to the previous events. Spinners also make it a point that they up their game by introducing new stunts which fascinates fans to keep supporting events hosted by the crew. SSK events also attract spectators from Mabopane, Ga-Rankuwa, Hammanskraal, Mamelodi, Soweto, Rustenburg, Limpopo and other places.

Without much said, SSK is hosting yet another thrilling spinning event on the 3^rd of November 2012 at one of the most secured spinning venues, the “Soshanguve Spinning Palace” which is situated at the industrial site in Soshanguve, Block F. This upcoming event is hosted in honour of SSK member and Co-founder, Tshepang Mkhonza who is also known as “Isla Bonita”. Mkhonza is one of the most celebrated spinners in Pretoria and other provinces. This event has already gained hype due to the fact that most popular spinners from other provinces have declared on their social networking sites, that they will grace the show with their remarkable stunts and skills. Features spinners are looking forward to the event as they count down in anticipation towards the event.  

SSK as the organizers of the next event promise nothing but superlative 12 hours of spinning, drifting and various other stunts that will take place from 14:00 till late. Featured at the event will be a line-up of some of the best names in the game that have competed at the annual Macufe Spin City and Kimberly Spin-Off shows. On the decks at the event will be a dj`s that will also be blazing hot tunes on the side to keep the crowd entertained while spinners battle it out on the Spinning pitch. Cost for the event will be R50 for adults and only R30 for children under the age of 12.

Press release, for more info contact

Mr Tshepang Mkhonza (Co-Founder of SSK)

073 564 1746



Zwartkops hosts 7th Supedrift Series

Side by side drifting. Winner of the Superdrift Series 7th leg, Wade van Zummeren going sideways alongside Michael Radlof at the Zwartkops Raceway this past Saturday.

@ROBERT_MABUSELA

The seventh leg of the Superdrift Series kicked off on Saturday the 22nd of September at the Zwartkops Raceway in Pretoria West. The day started off with rain which managed to clear off as the day progressed and the drifting was to take place. This worked in favour of photographers and judges by ensuring that they will have that much needed Smoke detail. Having smoke doesn't only cause harm to the ozone layer but complements photography, while judges like to see smoke as it impacts on judging criteria

Wade van Zummeren finished in first place after maintaining his drifting to qualify for the top 16 before upping his drifting going through to the elimination rounds. The finals was a testimony that Japanese engineered Nissan's are made for drifting as van Zummeren's Rockstar Energy sponsored Nissan Skyline R33 battled it out with Adam Shefer in his Nissan 200sx sponsored by Achillies Tyres in the finals.

Judges only had one round of the finals to decided as the finalist clipped one another just as they began drifting in the second round. Shefer seemed to be a victim of the number two as he finished in second place, clipped van Zummeren in the second round of the finals and lost both his front and rear bumpers. Third place went to Michael Radlof after 18 year old Jason Webb's fuel pump burst out as he came out of the second corner in the semi-finals. This meant that Webb couldn`t continue in the battle for third place making him settle for fourth place and the points allocated for that position.

According to Bruno Miranda, one of the judges of the drift series. Drivers are given 10 points at the begining of each drift and points are deducted based on four categories which include style, angles, speed and flair. Impressing the judges required drivers to carry out the drift and link it from the starting point until the finish line. This is usually executed by using two methods, by poping the hand break just as you begin drifting or the kick clutch method which puts driver's footwork to the test.

Drifting will take place at a different altitude as the next superdrift Series will go down to the coast. The Grand West Casino in the Western Cape is set to host the next event which will run from the 5th to the 7th of October. The Northern Regions will see the drifting action return to Zwartkops Raceway on the 24th of November during the Zwartkops Festival.

Twitter as a reporting tool

@ROBERT_MABUSELA

Twitter was a platform that provided up to the second information about the Marikana massacre through following the right journalist and hash tags. Journalist have seen the benefits of using twitter while they are covering stories which we have seen in the recent Marikana shootings where information was spread quickly through twitter.

Talk radio 702 Journalist Gia Nicoliades, covered the massacre on the day, her first tweet was “#Lonmin very quite here this morning. Police are expected to brief the media on the way forward.” This was early in the morning before the events unfolded. She tweeted throughout the day and also tweeted pictures, her tweets were very descriptive touching on the miners, police and the media present at Marikana. Her tweets also guided her followers on which international news sources where the shootings made headlines, including @BBC and @Skynews  Nicoliades used twitter and all its different functions to keep people updated on the story. Nicolides currently still following developments around the story. Nicoliades twitter timeline for the day had 29 tweets on the day which included 7 photographs.

E News Channel Africa “Enca” reporter Hajra Omarjee`s tweets were interesting as she interacted with one of her followers with the tweet handle @TabedjiM who witnessed the shootings live and requested Omarjee`s email address. This is one of the benefits of twitter, where followers can use media personalities to spread news. This bridges the gap of information because people who use twitter are publishers and may bring fresh material to the main stream media through social media. Omargee also asked questions in some of her tweets which sparked conversations about the topic at hand.

Karin Labuscagne from Jacaranda news also used twitter as twitter tool on the day of the Marikhana incident, she also tweeted using the hash tag lonmin (#Lonmin). Labuscagne only started tweeting about the incident later on in the evening, which is when she started following the story just before the police were about to give a media briefing based on the shootings that happened during the day. Her tweets and tweet pics were mostly describing the latest events at the mine,  Labuscagne is still following the story closely.  Labuscagne had a total of 19 tweets which included 6 pictures.

Most Journalists used twitter as a Journalism tool to bring their followers together with those that follow the different media companies they work for with up to the minuet tweets, about the Marikana Massacre. This helped to provide information as it happend instead of having to wait for the reports that will only be published or broadcasted after they have been edited. It was also important to note the importance for the Journalists to provide accurate information that won`t bring them and their employer to distribute.

The Marikana massacre is an example on how Journalist use twitter as a Journalism to and how other users get information through social media by following the correct people who will bring you relevant information.