62 women given wheels for freedom

SIXTY-TWO Khayelitsha women – one for each of the years between 1956 and 2018 – were treated to cycling lessons on Women’s Day.

They were celebrated in the same spirit as the thousands of women who defied apartheid laws and marched to the Union Buildings against injustices 62 years ago.

The event yesterday was organised by Learn2Cycle with ABCD Concepts, a startup tourism company based in Khayelitsha, with the aim of contributing to women’s freedom of mobility.

Learn2Cycle founder, Lebogang Mokwena, said the Women’s March of 1956 marked the first mass-based articulation of South African women’s opposition to the country’s influx control measures and pass laws.

Central to their cause was a desire to exercise and protect a fundamental human right, their own and others’ freedom of movement, said Mokwena.

“Although not a feature of the women’s march to the Union Buildings 62 years ago, the centrality of this simple piece of technology (the bicycle) in the various global histories of women’s emancipatory struggles from the 19th century is well known. We believe that at a practical and symbolic level, the bicycle achieves just this: a sense of autonomy, free movement, and self-assertion,” said Mokwena.

ABCD co-founder Buntu Matole said: “The event was a huge success, the ladies came in numbers from the different sections of Khayelitsha.”

“We are happy to say the participants went home knowing that riding a bicycle is not child’s play, but it also requires a lot of elements when you are on the road. It is something we look forward to continuing in the future.”