Chamber president shocked by attack

DURBAN is open for business. That's the message from Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry president, Zeph Ndlovu, following an incident at the Ironman 70.3 triathlon in Durban on Sunday, 2 August.

He said the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry was shocked to learn of the alleged ill treatment of officials of Ironman during the preparation of the race in Durban.

A local newspaper reported last week that a race director was assaulted by a group of people claiming to be an eThekwini councillor and her bodyguards.

A member of the public who intervened said he was also thrown to the ground and punched.

The incident happened on the Saturday, while Ironman staff were preparing for the race which took place on Sunday.

Race officials had closed off parking areas along the beachfront promenade and according to an official, a woman who identified herself as an eThekwini councillor arrived and demanded that a security guard allow her to drive into the car park to join friends. Her friends allegedly came to her aid and verbally assaulted the guard and tried to lift the gate and push it aside.

According to reports, metro police intervened and after more than an hour of arguing they let the woman in with her car.

Reports said Paul Wolff, race director of Ironman 70.3 South Africa, confirmed a race director had called him when the incident occurred.

It forced the organisers of the race to make a last-minute change to the route so it bypassed a lawned area and beach car park popular with revellers.

“For whatever reason, an attack on other fellow human beings is unfortunate, regrettable and cannot find justification in a civilised society like Durban. On behalf of the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industries and the peace loving community of Durban, we pledge our support for the staging of a successful Ironman event in Durban, now and into the future. To demonstrate our commitment to the success of the Ironman events in future, we have planned a debrief session in which we will take stock of the 'highs' and 'lows' of the recent events. Our intention is to use the shortcomings as leverage to improve the quality of 'host' offering into the future. Our safety and justice forum will follow the report closely,” said Ndlovu.

EThekwini Head of Communications, Tozi Mthethwa, said the city was aware of the allegations but could not provide comment as Metro Police were not present during the alleged altercation.”