Nic Dlamini's arm broken by Table Mountain rangers

[Jewbacca]

If the transgression is something as minor as riding without a permit, then the rangers should keep their response at the same level. Ask him to stop, close the boom, set up a road block at the exit. If he still did not comply, then let him go. Video him, take a picture, contact his team, lay a complaint with SAPS. Follow him in their vehicle to wherever he was going. Identify him, fine him, take him to court. Post it on the Bikehub?! Whatever.

 

But NOT grab his handlebars causing him to fall (dangerous in the extreme, people can die from it, end up paralized or brain damaged from it). Certainly NOT arrest him in a violent and brutal enough way to break his arm.

 

Now, if there was very good reason to suspect that a murder, a rape or an armed robbery took place, if the suspect was armed and dangerous, then the use of force might have been justified. I cannot imagine how Nick could have filled these criteria to justify what they did to him.

 

The ranger doing the arm-breaking KNEW he was wrong. The ones standing by doing NOTHING, KNEW they were wrong. The one trying to prevent the totally legal filming of the whole thing KNEW it was wrong and tried to hide their deed!

 

The book should be thrown at them. The BIG book!

 

Nick should get a fine, in line with his transgression, if memory serves me right, it is about R500, the same as a yearly activity card. Not a broken arm and possibly life changing consequences!  

For sure.

 

Like I've said multiple times, I agree.

 

Both parties. Now he is claiming he 'didn't know' and all sorts which just makes me angry. Admit you were a knob, broke the rules and then say 'but that doesn't justify their actions'.

 

I'm just riled up by his 'I'm innocent and did nothing' stance, then changing that to 'I didn't know' despite having to ride past the entry gates and signs and allegedly ignoring their initial attempts to stop him. If he just admitted he was being a knob I would 100% pick a side.

 

But for now I think he is a liar and was a knob and the Parks officials are violent thugs. Both parties behaved terribly.

 

Unfortunately Nic has lost a really big fan (not that he cares), despite him having come off worse in this exchange.

[soutie18]

Ja, so it is Friday and I have washed down some leftover turkey with plenty wine... thus I am now in a position to pass a preliminary assessment...

 

It shouldn't matter whether the fellow is skinny, famous or anything else... fact is that he probably didn't pay on entering the reserve, and if that is the case, he is as guilty as a fanatical bomber on an airplane.

 

No matter the above, it is obviously a bit excessive to snap someone's limbs based on the severity of the alleged transgression, and it seems the matter is being investigated.

 

So, because it is Friday, I suggest a truce btw the drama/conspiracy police and the aptly named three-sides-to-all-stories crowd, allowing for time to digest and pass judgment.

 

In Joburg we would have stolen his bike, shot the camera man and misplaced the video evidence... so I consider this nothing more than a typical Cape mismanaged matter.

Spot On 

[kosmonooit]

I think everyone agrees breaking an arm was excessive, but you can’t ignore what led up to this.

 

It was a question not a statement:

Should they have just let him continue without trying to stop him, or try to apprehend him and if so, how???

 

How would you have gone about it if you were a ranger at the time?

They could have waited at the exit and stopped him there. But what is the big deal? a silly frigging permit?  Get a grip.....

[Edge_Design]

So there has to be a justification for what they did to him? So he didn't have a pass/permit with him... so what... how the hell can anyone justify their actions?

 

They used racial profiling (apart from him not having a pass) to target him. A black man on an expensive bike racing downhill on his way out of the park surely must be a thug...

 

After reading through the thread, this really has to be the knob of the year... Wtf does his race have to do with anything??? You are the only person who is concerned about the race of the people involved.

 

For everyone else, you very possibly are correct but something happened to spark off a physical altercation and I don't think we know what that is yet... There is a chance (probably quite remote) that he actually threw the first punch and they needed to subdue him in which case the response could be justified by an untrained official who doesn't really know how to deal with a situation like that. Let them gather the facts and then crucify the ranger if your guesses are correct (I'm well aware the video gives some damning facts but it does not include all of them).

[Grogs]

For sure.

 

Like I've said multiple times, I agree.

 

Both parties. Now he is claiming he 'didn't know' and all sorts which just makes me angry. Admit you were a knob, broke the rules and then say 'but that doesn't justify their actions'.

 

I'm just riled up by his 'I'm innocent and did nothing' stance, then changing that to 'I didn't know' despite having to ride past the entry gates and signs and allegedly ignoring their initial attempts to stop him. If he just admitted he was being a knob I would 100% pick a side.

 

But for now I think he is a liar and was a knob and the Parks officials are violent thugs. Both parties behaved terribly.

 

Unfortunately Nic has lost a really big fan (not that he cares), despite him having come off worse in this exchange.

 

So when a SANRAL official breaks my arm after I refuse to pay my e-tolls or get an e-tag, 

both of us “behaved terribly”?

 

This false equivalence argument is ridiculous.

[King_Crispy]

If he was trespassing and ignored all the rangers and he was now trespassing then this story just gets worse. Seems he may have had the privilege attitude. Wonder why he thought he didn't have to comply like the rest of us.

Of course he was trespassing.

All this could have been avoided had he just said" Hells guys. I'm sorry, where do I pay? How do we sort this out?"

 

Instead, as I said last night, he probably told the ranger to fork off, and rode away.

The ranger caught him and taught him some manners

[SwissVan]

They could have waited at the exit and stopped him there.

 

But what is the big deal? a silly frigging permit? 

 

Get a grip.....

 

 

That’s the first problem right there, “what’s the big deal a silly frigging permit”

 

I’ve never been there so don’t know the layout or how it works

Here is someone making sense and who clearly knows how it should work

 

 

.......

We are permitted to ride there and when we do, we agree to the fact that the rangers can and will ask to see your permit. By not stopping when they ask, for whatever reason, you are being a knob.

 

I also say BOLLOCKS to the fact that he didn't know he needed a permit. To get to where he was he had to ride past closed booms with big pictures and signs on. Coupled with the fact that he lives in Capricorn and has been riding the peninsula for years. I call rubbish.

 

Stop and show your card. Stop when asked. If this is going to continue Parks will close silvermine and tokai. This sort of thing isn't worth it. Dealing with people too good to stop when asked.

 

If I was Parks I would have kicked Matt out of the park too and would consider stopping all cyclists from entering the reserve and tokai/silvermine.

 

That way everyone is a rogue rider and they can then focus on catching the 'real' criminals instead of chasing people who are above the rules and couldn't care

[King_Crispy]

So when a SANRAL official breaks my arm after I refuse to pay my e-tolls or get an e-tag,

both of us “behaved terribly”?

 

This false equivalence argument is ridiculous.

Your argument is like a 5 year old trying to explain why he stole a sweet.

E-tolls on a public road and Sanparks official in a reserve are very different.

If a cyclist wants to provoke a member of the public, then he must be able to put up with whatever transpires thereafter.

Choice and consequence

[DJR]

............The ranger caught him and taught him some manners

Just don't come cry here if you have an arm broken for parking longer than you paid for.

[SwissVan]

So when a SANRAL official breaks my arm after I refuse to pay my e-tolls or get an e-tag,

both of us “behaved terribly”?

 

This false equivalence argument is ridiculous.

Comparing e-tags to a permit for a national park heritage site permit is ridiculous

 

Edited 100% out so as to not agree with the violent bits

Edited December 28, 2019 by SwissVan

[Grogs]

If you ghouls want to moan about someone not getting a permit, go and start a separate thread about people who don’t get permits when they go to parks. I hope you also condemn people who don’t pay their etolls in that thread

 

This thread is about a vicious assault (and possibly an attempted murder) of an unarmed citizen who posed no immediate threat to anybody.

 

Again, Nic’s having or not having a permit is totally and completely irrelevant in condemning the actions of the thugs who assaulted him.

[Slowbee]

Did some of you not call for more compliance from cyclists when SANparks threatened to pull bikers off the mountain ?

 

What happened to Nic is just plain simply wrong. I think on that we "mostly" seem to agree.

 

The reasons for getting into that situation is where the discussion turns ummmm weird!

[SteveS]

Just been for a ride where this happened. I took my activity card with me. I showed it to the necessary people. I have no broken arms, no videos of it happening and I feel good. If only he had taken his permit card or paid the entry then his story would be as good as mine. I also have no one to blame for my amazing ride. Happy weekend all.

Of course you are ok after your ride because the thugs involved in the incident have been suspended.

[Patchelicious]

What happened to Nic is not cool at all, it should not have happened and I hope justice is served to the low life thugs that think violence is the solution.

 

You don’t deserve to have your arm broken by a “boytjie” for not paying your permit or “being cheeky” or whatever justification they come up with.

 

On a separate note, as cyclists, let’s make a concerted effort to pay our trail and permit fees when we need too. After all, we have had threads where trail prefects have threatened to “moer” rogue riders.

 

Get better soon Nic, I look forward to cheering you on when you get to Europe, and you will ????????????????????????

Edited December 28, 2019 by Patchelicious

[McD23]

Yup, for real, i will wait for full report then blame someone.   As said, i have no clue what happened before.  So how can I judge?

So even if nic was trespassing, cheeky and resisted you still feel you cant make judgement on how they handled him after clearly breaking his arm ?

Forget the legality.

The simple human act of showing concern for what is clearly a traumatic injury that they don't bother acknowledging. Love to see your stance if that was you or a loved one in the same situation...

[scotty]

What happened to Nic is not cool at all, it should not have happened and I hope justice is served to the low life thugs that think violence is the solution.

 

You don’t deserve to have your arm broken by a “boytjie” for not paying your permit or “being cheeky” or whatever justification they come up with.

 

On a separate note, as cyclists, let’s make a concerted effort to pay our trail and permit fees when we need too.

 

Get better soon Nic, I look forward to cheering you on when you get to Europe, and you will

Any suggestion if i don't want to pay or produce my trail permit and insist on cycling on what the official should do.