If there is anything that the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us, it is the power of working together and reaching out to help others. It is in this light that Khaltsha Cycles and Avalanche Bicycle Company have come together to launch the Heroes on Bikes campaign to raise funds towards supporting essential workers.
The health risks and spatial limitations that come with the virus have meant limited options as means for essential workers to commute to work. The Heroes on Bikes campaign thus provides a solution to this issue by providing essential workers with a safe, reliable, and convenient way of commuting to work – by bicycle.
Sindile Mavundla a bicycle activist, an avid cyclist, member of the TSIBA Cycling Club and a fearless entrepreneur. He started Khaltsha Cycles, a cycle shop in Khayelitsha, one of the first located in the heart of the townships of Cape Town.
When the pandemic hit, he immediately started thinking of how Khaltsha Cycles could make a difference. He realised that essential workers in the townships have little in the way of affordable and safe transportation to get back and forth to their work; trains and busses are not running, taxis are unsafe and e-hailing services are expensive. What better way to get to work at this time than a bicycle?
147 essential workers have signed up, and donations have already made it possible to fund the first 40 bikes.
“The Heroes-on-Bikes campaign started as a wild idea and has changed now the lives of 40 essential workers. While our original goal was to provide 20 bicycles, we’re excited to share that through the Tour de France United Campaign together with Qhubeka have donate 500 more bikes toward the Heroes-on-Bikes. A bicycle is the perfect mode of transport for social distancing. Our Heroes need safe, reliable, convenient and affordable transportation to get to our communities throughout the COVID-19 crisis. As a pilot test we hope to raise more than 50 bicycles and expand this initiative to other parts of the country. That would be a great achievement for us” –Sindile Mavundla
The campaign has raised 540 bicycles (including spares and accessories) and built and distributed the bicycles to beneficiaries in Langa, Khayelitsha, Gugulethu, Athlone and Samora just to mention a few.
Donations of any amount are welcomed. To make a donation click on the Backabuddy link here.
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Khaltsha Cycles is a one-stop bike shop based in Khayelitsha Cape Town. Our passion has always been to create and promote the culture of cycling in townships by offering quality affordable bicycles. We believe that bicycles do change lives, our programmes include learn to cycle classes, bike2school and safe cycling.