Creating jobs was also at the core of what the National Cycling Academy Forum (NCAF) did since it was looking at ways to support the interests of the cycling sport which was generally not cheap, says the National Cycling Academy Forum (NCAF).
Buhle Madlala, the co-founder of this organisation for Rural and Township cycling enthusiasts is aiming to transform the face of cycling, said that they did this because they were not only focused on the high-performance riders and the pathway that would take the raw talent from grassroots to amateur all the way to the high-performance elite.
“We have been looking for ways to expand another business proposal and objective of building business entities in our own communities. When we say that we want to train mechanics, and have a cycling after-service business, it is because there is nowhere in the country where there is a bicycle retailer in the black communities. These bicycles are generally sold in town. We have bicycles and ride them but when there is a puncture, where are the tubes and cranks? This adds an additional burden on the underprivileged that they should take the bike to town.”
Madlala who is passionate about inclusion and solutions that impact the lives of future generations asked that under such circumstances, how do they create business enterprises in their own spaces with their own people and extend the network so that they were able to create jobs?
She said the bike mechanic does not have to be hired by a cycling shop that is in town.
She said they should be able to create their own start-ups and service the communities they were in since people in rural communities prominently used bicycles.
NCAF said that in their objective, they have started engaging with the Department of Transport(DoT) as they discussed non-motorised transportation.
“We are requesting the department to start giving us bicycles so that they will become a culture that learners got used to,” Madlala said.
She called this to be placed in the hands of the custodians because she believed that when people impose something and leave, the people are not ready and not really receptive because it seems as if they cannot do things for themselves.
“We can do things for ourselves. Just enable us, remove the barriers to entry, take away the bureaucracy and red-tape and allow us to expand the businesses that we started.”
She said that for their clubs to sustain themselves, especially in Gauteng where there was Township Tourism, tourists were being put on their bikes to tour the various tourist/heritage attractions in the country throughout the townships.
In Soweto they were taken to the Nelson Mandela Museum, Hector Pieterson Square and given the history of those places.
“Since Soweto is not the only town, that is just one business that can be expanded into other townships. As cycling academies, we would like to take that. We urge DoT to consider us to run such programmes.”
NCAF said that if they could get bicycles, they could also change the culture around the use of bicycles.
It said it worked with school kids whom they could help lower the risks of over-crowded scholar transport that were often involved in fatal crashes. It said that these schoolchildren end up using their bikes to go to school.
Madlala said that with the courier companies intending to penetrate rural areas, villages and townships, they were still unable to reach the most rural areas.
“We are here as riders and we know our communities. Why don’t we look at ways on how we could collaborate and create business opportunities to support the careers of these aspiring riders. This would be more of a principle of earning while you are training. Courier companies can have a hub somewhere in a rural area. We have riders who can take whatever products are brought to the hub and take it even to the remotest client.
Madlala said this was a holistic view they were driving and lobbying for.
“Do not look at our challenge as NCAP wanting to have black riders that represent the country in isolation. Look at it holistically and look at it as a solution to a whole lot of issues that restrict us from doing things for ourselves creating barriers to entry. If we do not have jobs, we will not be able to buy good bikes, or pay entry fees. We will always be seen begging since taking part in various cycling competitions costs tens of thousands.”
NCAP lamented the fact that when it came to cycling, many people grew up having owned bicycles.
It said that unfortunately, there seemed to be a glass ceiling where there was no opportunity for growth.
“It is not like other sporting codes where you know that when you want to be a professional, there are some local leagues and a traceable pathway that leads to professional level. There are known pathways from grassroots, amateur all the way to professional level. Unfortunately, that pathway is not clear for cycling. You may have ways or means to get there, but it is a challenge if you are black,” Madlala said.
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