Johannesburg, South Africa, 22 June 2016 – Today 50 excited children at Kwabhekilanga Secondary School in Alexandra, north of Johannesburg received bicycles through a partnership between the City of Joburg and Qhubeka. The bicycles will help them to travel to school faster and more safely, thereby boosting their attendance through increased mobility.
Businesses and local government, through a City of Joburg matching programme, have sponsored a total of 350 bicycles that will be allocated to students and adults in Alexandra. The City donated one bicycle for every bicycle sponsored, and thanks to the generosity of AutoTrader (100 bicycles), Fluor (40 bicycles) and Tarsus (40 bicycles), 350 bicycles have been funded. 280 bicycles will be allocated to children and 70 bicycles will be made available for adults between Alex and their places of work in Sandton. A further 290 bicycles will be distributed in Orlando, Soweto where a bicycle distribution programme was launched last year.
Alexandra (aka Alex) was identified as an area for bicycle distribution by the City of Joburg due to the cycling corridor that is being constructed between Alex and Sandton. Furthermore, this programme is one of the EcoMobility world festival’s legacy projects. The festival took place in October 2015 in Sandton with the aim of promoting walking, cycling and the use of public transport in Sandton.
Kwabhekilanga Secondary School was selected to receive bicycles based on its position as the highest-performing school in Alex in terms of Matric pass rate in both 2014 and 2015, and because the majority of schoolchildren currently walk to school. The City’s hope is that by providing schoolchildren with improved mobility, they will further boost academic performance as well as encourage a healthy lifestyle.
The objectives of the partnership between Qhubeka and City of Joburg align with the city’s goals of sustainable development and Qhubeka’s vision of building communities of excellence powered by bicycles. Learners who participate in the programme will be supported with bicycle safety and maintenance training by African Public Bicycles.
Schoolchildren who are part of the programme have to commit to safe use and storage of the bicycle and make a nominal financial contribution. This will be used by the school to fund the maintenance of the bicycles through a certified field mechanic that was selected and trained by Qhubeka. The bicycles will be owned by the school until such time that the beneficiaries graduate from school and all contract terms are met, at which time the schoolchildren take full ownership of the bicycles.
“The City sees the distribution of bicycles to members of the Alexandra community as part of its initiative to promote cycling for affordable mobility and healthy lifestyles,” said Christine Walters, MMC for Transport in the City of Johannesburg. “Bike distribution complements the cycle lane building programme that we are currently completing between Alexandra and the Sandton CBD.”
“AutoTrader saw the opportunity to set the wheels rolling by creating head-turning car branding, all in support of driving a social responsibility initiative,” says AutoTrader Marketing Manager, Tyrone Woods. “We instantly fell in love with Qhubeka’s bicycle relief programme and the fact is; Qhubeka is helping educate the nation and we are hoping our small part will also help #DriveChange in South Africa too.”
“We are excited about the collaboration with likeminded organisations as well as contributing towards improving the performance of our learners in communities that we work in,” said Thabang Tawarima, Fluor’s Manager Corporate Affairs & Business Development. “We believe this initiative will lead to a sustainable platform towards leaving a positive legacy in these communities. The learners of Kwabhekilanga have demonstrated the qualities of commitment, hard work, perseverance and patience in being the leading school in the township of Alex, and this resonates with our company’s ethos in how we execute projects.”
“The Tarsus Technology Group aims to increase access to technology, education and opportunities in order to build sustainable development, says Miles Crisp, Group CEO of Tarsus Technologies Group, development champion, and passionate corporate responsibility giver. “We are committed to being a good corporate citizen and our involvement with Qhubeka contributes to the unique needs of the learners at this secondary school. We are proud sponsors of this initiative. As a cyclist myself I avidly support the use of bicycles as a mode of transport.”
Qhubeka Executive Director Sarah Phaweni explains that Qhubeka is an Nguni word that means “to progress” or “to move forward”. “We are thankful to City of Joburg, AutoTrader, Fluor and Tarsus for helping us to mobilise these children with bicycles. We believe that with their new wheels, the children will indeed progress and move forward at school.”
Qhubeka is World Bicycle Relief’s programme in South Africa. World Bicycle Relief is a global non-profit organisation dedicated to advancing education, health and economic opportunities by providing simple, sustainable transportation. Since Qhubeka’s founding in 2005, it has delivered more than 60 000 specially designed, locally assembled bicycles to people across South Africa.
Photo credits: Liam Philley
About Qhubeka:
Qhubeka is an Nguni word that means “to progress”, “to move forward”. Qhubeka is World Bicycle Relief’s program in South Africa. World Bicycle Relief is a global non-profit organisation dedicated to advancing education, health and economic opportunities by providing simple, sustainable transportation. Since World Bicycle Relief’s founding in 2005, it has delivered more than 275 000 specially designed, locally assembled bicycles to people in need.
About City of Joburg:
The City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality (City of Joburg / CoJ) is a metropolitan municipality that manages the local governance of Johannesburg, South Africa.
Johannesburg is the economic capital of South Africa and Africa’s most powerful economy, generating some 17% of the country’s wealth, with a growth rate higher than that of the national economy. For more information, visit www.joburg.org.za
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About Fluor Corporation
Fluor Corporation (NYSE: FLR) is a global engineering, procurement, fabrication, construction and maintenance company that designs, builds and maintains capital-efficient facilities for its clients on six continents. For more than a century, Fluor has served our clients by delivering innovative and integrated solutions across the globe. With headquarters in Irving, Texas, Fluor ranks 136 on the FORTUNE 500 list with revenue of $18.1 billion in 2015 and has more than 60,000 employees worldwide. For more information, please visit www.fluor.com or follow us on Twitter @FluorCorp.
About Tarsus Distribution
Founded in 1985 Tarsus Distribution (formerly Tarsus Technologies) has a 31-year track record as one of South Africa’s foremost value-add IT distributors providing hardware, security and consumables from the world’s most recognised and respected brands.
Tarsus Distribution strives to meet the channel’s needs for credit funding, stock availability and efficient logistics. In addition, there is a focus on providing resellers with all that they need to deliver the highest quality service and product solutions to their customers. This enables the reseller to focus on adding value to their customers and providing the support that helps them to become a business partner as opposed to merely a mover of tin.
Tarsus Distribution is part of the Tarsus Technology Group (formerly MB Technologies) and has as its sister companies Tarsus SecureData, Tarsus Cloud On Demand, Tarsus Channel Capital, Tarsus Channel Risk Management, Tarsus Emerging Markets, Tarsus Academy, Tarsus Dispose-IT, Printacom and GAAP.
The Tarsus Distribution head office is situated in Johannesburg with branches in Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth, Bloemfontein, Nelspruit and Polokwane. The Tarsus Technology Group has an extended footprint in Africa with operations in Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Mozambique, Kenya and Nigeria with teams on the ground in Uganda, Ghana and Ivory Coast.
For more information, visit www.tarsus.co.za