The man, who spends every moment he can on the water, spends the rest of his time saving lives. He has been a paramedic for _ ve years, and is studying to be a doctor. The night before we spoke, he delivered a baby in Hillbrow, in the Johannesburg CBD. In a previous Dusi race, Mzolo needed a medic of his own. A kilometer into the race, he hit the Ernie Pearce Weir, a three-meter watercourse that narrows. Usually people take it one-by-one, but those in the lead go down it like sardines, he says. This was where Mzolo ran into trouble. Crammed into the weir with six other canoes, Mzolo went under. Six more went over him. When he surfaced he knew two ribs were cracked. He forfeited the race while in hospital. “I’ll never miss a Dusi, its fun but it’s really hard,” he says.
