Moses Mabhida Skateboard Debacle

If you have ever attempted to ride a skateboard (of any type) at Moses Mabhida you have probably had a run in with the security guards. Now I’m not against any person trying to enforce the rules in any place but the staff at the stadium have a clear prejudice against skateboarders. The problem is that security has no clear concept as to why they should be stopping skateboarders, they’ve just been told that they must and so they blindly follow orders.

As you can see from the above photo of the stadium taken this afternoon, there clearly weren’t many people around and as far as I can tell there is not a lot to damage. This didn’t stop two security guards from immediately rushing over to halt some very lazy riding around on the concrete. When asked by my husband why they were then allowing roller bladers, cyclists and children on scooters to carry on, they were a bit puzzled. Their answers were along the lines of the following:

• Cyclists – allowed for reasons unknown to them
• Roller Bladers – not allowed but no attempt was made to stop them
• Scooters – Apparently the insignificant handle which enables turning is enough reason to allow it. (When told this my husband wanted to know if he could skate if he attached a stick to the front of his board. The answer: YES)

When we asked security to call their supervisor they refused as apparently that is not procedure. We were told to walk around the stadium and speak to him/her ourselves.

My point is this, if all someone is doing is standing on their board and pushing themselves around on a flat concrete surface with nothing fragile in sight, how is it any better or worse than cycling, roller blading or pushing around on a scooter? If they have a problem with skateboarders and bmxers grinding or sliding then by all means they should put up a sign. That would be a reasonable request. Asking someone to cease rolling around on four pieces of polyurethane with less ground contact than the sole of the average shoe, is not.

Until such time as Moses Mabhida can come up with a convincing argument as to why everything on wheels but a board is allowed in what is essentially a public area then I feel that all skateboarders should feel free to cruise around the stadium as often as they possibly can.