As has become a tradition, and as part of the Nelson Mandela centenary celebrations, bikers from across South Africa will ride for charity to mark Mandela Day next month.
BIKERS FOR MANDELA DAY, in partnership with the Nelson Mandela Foundation, will this year rally in aid of “Keep a Girl Child in School”. The aim is to collect sanitary pads for the three million girls who miss school annually because they cannot afford basic sanitary products.
The initiative, which was started in 2010 by Nelson Mandela’s former personal assistant, Zelda la Grange, is aimed at celebrating Madiba’s legacy by helping the less fortunate. Bikers across the country are encouraged to participate by arranging a ride in their own cities, or by joining the mass rallies planned in Cape Town and Johannesburg on 14 and 15 July, respectively.
“This year’s rides will allow for more bikers to participate in this nine-year old tradition of having fun while doing good at the same time. Madiba believed that every small effort counts in bringing about change. My hope is that all riders of scooter bikes, superbikes and everything with two wheels and an engine will join us to make a massive impact to this cause. As little as R180 can provide enough sanitary pads to keep one girl in school for an entire year. A little can do so much,” says organiser, Zelda la Grange.
For Metro FM’s Angie Khumalo, who has been part of BIKERS FOR MANDELA DAY for the past seven years, the chance to “be part of something bigger than ourselves” was key to her decision to participate. “I think we get so bogged down with our own lives that we become desensitised to the plight of the less fortunate. For me personally, this will be a wonderful opportunity to become re-sensitized and I’m honoured to be able to participate in furthering Madiba’s legacy of giving your time for the betterment of the community. Being able to do that while riding my dream bike, is just a very tasty cherry on top.”
On Saturday, 14 July, bikers are invited to meet at The Grand Parade in Cape Town CBD at 8:00am. The ride will then depart at 9:30am and travel to Drakenstein Prison. This is a City of Cape Town support initiative.
The Johannesburg rally will take place on Sunday, 15 July, from 8:00am at the Nelson Mandela Foundation in Houghton. By 9:30am the bikers will depart to travel to the Union Buildings in Pretoria.
Prospective riders can register for either rally, free of charge, at http://www.nelsonmandela.org/nelson-mandela-100. Participants are asked to bring one pack of sanitary pads – or as many as they can afford or carry – for the ride. All the products donated will be distributed amongst underprivileged girls by BIKERS FOR MANDELA DAY’s project partner, Mimi Women – a proudly South African organisation that makes, sells and distributes sanitary pads. Representatives from the company will also be selling pads at both the Cape Town and Johannesburg events.
To enable those unable to join the planned event, local- and internationally, can donate towards the BIKERS FOR MANDELA DAY initiative. A crowdfunding page has been created in support of Mimi Women. To donate via GivenGain, visit https://www.givengain.com/e/bikersformandeladay2018/.
About Bikers for Mandela Day
BIKERS FOR MANDELA DAY’s maiden journey was undertaken by a group of riders from Johannesburg and Cape Town in 2010. Since then, more than 100 000 kilometres have been travelled across all provinces, as well as Botswana, Swaziland and Mozambique.
To date, more than 10 000 people have directly benefitted from the initiative. Over the past nine years, bikers have helped restore orphanages; delivered food and blankets to old age homes; provided stationery to schools; planted vegetables gardens in needy communities; and spruced up facilities at Rape Care centres and police stations across South Africa.
In particular, this initiative helped build a classroom at a crèche on a farm in De Rust in the Western Cape in 2010. Two years ago, it was reported that all the children from that crèche can read and write when going to primary school.