Danie van Heerden Asked South Africa to Regulate Slap
Danie “Pitbull” van Heerden called for South African recognition of slap fighting in an August 7, 2024, Reuters report. The former boxer and wrestler wanted formal oversight.
Online attention led to an overseas opportunity
A viral TikTok video led to an invitation to compete in Las Vegas, where van Heerden won by technical knockout.
His call for recognition focused on South Africa, where he wanted formal oversight of fair play and participant safeguards. The report documented an individual campaign rather than an announcement that authorities had adopted new regulations.
Commercial promotions publish their own rules
Power Slap’s published format uses alternating striker and defender roles. A coin toss determines who strikes first, and the rules allow sixty seconds to recover and return a slap.
The promotion lists contests of three to five rounds, with outcomes decided through points, knockout, technical knockout or disqualification. Its scoring considers the effectiveness of the strike and the defender’s reaction and recovery.
Recognition and event rules serve different purposes
Power Slap also identifies fouls including clubbing, stepping, an illegal windup and flinching. Those published competition provisions show that individual promotions can define how their own events operate.
Van Heerden’s request concerned a wider domestic framework for the activity in South Africa. It raised questions of recognition and oversight beyond the rules used by a particular commercial organization, as online exposure brought more attention to the sport.
Sources
- Reuters: van Heerden’s background, overseas appearance and recognition campaign
- Power Slap: published timing, scoring, rounds and fouls
