October 23, 2006
By Lucky Sindane
EVERY morning 12-year-old Nomsa Sibanda walks eight kilometres to school, often arriving too tired to concentrate.
But that's all about to change. Sixty children at various schools in Ivory Park - Mikateko Primary School, Umqhele Comprehensive School, Ivory Park Secondary School and Eqinisweni Secondary School - were presented with bicycles on Saturday, 21 October as part of Public Transport Month.
The bicycles, 30 donated by the Gauteng department of transport, roads and works and 30 by bus company Putco, were handed over to the children by the City's mayoral committee member for transport, Rehana Moosajee.
Getting to school just got easier for several children in Ivory Park, who were presented with bicycles as part of the Shova Kalula project
She also gave the children safety helmets and locks.
"I am very happy and I can now look forward to going to school everyday and not worrying about being tired when I get there," Nomsa said.
This forms part of Shova Kalula, a project introduced by the national Department of Transport in 2001 to promote the use of bicycles in "lower-traffic areas". The objective is to promote cycling as a cheap mode of transport for low-income households, targeting mainly learners, rural women and farm workers.
Mthembeni Ncanana, Gauteng's assistant director for public transport integration and special projects, said, "The focus of this project is on learners, especially those who walk long distances and yet do not receive any subsidy in terms of learner transport, or in areas where there is no public transport, or those who cannot afford public transport.
"It is saddening to see young pupils walking long distances from home to school and vice versa."
Moosajee said non-motorised transport was the main focus for Public Transport Month. "Bicycles are very important; around the world some lanes are dedicated to cyclists and that's what we need to do as well.
"This will not end here. We are coming back with Johannesburg Roads Agency and we are going to create cycling lanes in Ivory Park to make your lives easy," she promised. "We need to share the road space that is available.
"Take good care of these bicycles. Don't look at them and see them as something you can sell," Moosajee concluded.
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