Have you red the article? 32 spikes is the concern here not the amount of people infected yet. (I’m no epidemiologist but dismissing the story because we don’t understand the implications is not wise)
You mean 32 mutations in the spike. Not sure how abnormal that is.
It's that, combined with a significant spike (no pun intended) in case counts (possibly a super spreader) in SA. What's being suggested is that the sharp increase in cases is somehow related to this variant. It isn't clear to me whether there's any evidence yet to confirm that link.