Video of South African park officials assaulting pro cyclist goes viral
Nic Dlamini suffered a badly fractured arm from his arrest by park rangers
An incident at Table Mountain National Park has left NTT Pro Cycling racer and South African Olympic hopeful Nic Dlamini hospitalized with a severe fracture of his left-humerus. The 24-year-old cyclist was training in the South African park when, according to eyewitness Donovan le Cok, park rangers pulled him off his bicycle at high speed, claiming he did not pay the R31 fee to enter the Silvermine Nature Reserve section of the Table Mountain National Park. le Cok captured the subsequent struggled between the rangers and Dlamini on film. A loud snap echoes out the moment the cyclist’s arm is broken by the park rangers. The NTT Pro Cycling (formerly Dimension Data) racer was taken to the hospital and X-rays confirmed that he suffered a fracture of his left humerus.
Wtf @TableMountainNP @SANParks @VanHaywood. Someone just broke Nic Dlamini’s arm pic.twitter.com/oYQGiTNUPM
— Lawrence Lindeque (@larrymontana) December 27, 2019
The video of the altercation subsequently went viral on Twitter. Pro cyclists such as Chris Froome and Daryl Impey have posted about their anger at the situation.
Apparently @nich_dlamini “injured himself”. Appalling @TableMountainNP ? https://t.co/kITWXmAm90
— Chris Froome (@chrisfroome) December 27, 2019
As if @nich_dlamini would injure himself!!! The actions of the rangers were way over the top and deserve to be punished. Sadly it doesn’t give Nic the opportunity he deserves to race his bike and inspire more SA youngsters https://t.co/ubhKasoERq
— Daryl Impey (@darylimpey) December 28, 2019
NTT Pro Cycling issued a press release calling for SANParks to implement disciplinary procedures against the officials involved. The sentiment was echoed by South Africa’s Environment Minister Barbara Creecy, who visited Dlamini in the hospital and called for the suspension of the five rangers. Although disciplinary action was eventually taken against the park employees involved in the altercation, they will be given the opportunity to appeal their suspensions.
“We can confirm that the five rangers that were involved in an altercation with Nic Dlamini have now been suspended after they submitted their representations,” said SANParks spokesperson Rey Thakhuli. “We found it necessary to suspend them and the necessary process will now unfold in terms of them being interviewed by the independent investigator that has been appointed and they will also be given an opportunity to appeal the suspensions.”
Dlamini was recently part of a South African delegation sent to Tokyo where he spent time training on the Olympic Road Race course in the hopes of being selected for Team South Africa at the Games. The cyclist competed in his first Grand Tour, the Vuelta a Espana, in 2019. If he were to be selected for the Tour de France in 2020, he would be the first black South African to compete in the race. Dlamini has undergone surgery to repair his arm and, although the procedure went well, it is still too early to determine how long the recovery will take. The injury he sustained could seriously impact his 2020 season and his Olympic dreams.
