Qhubeka bicycles help keep Paarl communities safe

Makhenke Krenya (front in the middle) of the Fairyland Neighbourhood Watch in Paarl East test riding the Qhubeka bicycle, together with fellow neighbourhood watch volunteers.

Up until now, patrols were done on foot. Bicycles now allow neighbourhood watch members to cover more ground quicker, increasing their effectiveness. Those volunteering for the neighbourhood watch organisations received basic training in bicycle maintenance, repair, and riding. The coaching was provided by master bicycle mechanics Beverley Roode and Janine Johnson of Bicycles and Beyond (BAB), a non-profit organisation that empowers vulnerable communities through cycling.

Roode and Johnson operate the bicycle assembly facility at Nederburg on behalf of Qhubeka. The dynamic duo also undertook the training of four previously unemployed women from the local Paarl East community in the assembly of Qhubeka’s purpose-built bicycles. The women, now fully trained, are employed on a full-time basis at the facility. They have set out to assemble a minimum of 150 bicycles, as per prescribed quality levels, per month.

The neighbourhood watch organisations in Paarl East operate with the support of VPUU (Violence Prevention Through Urban Upgrading) and the Drakenstein Municipality.

Nederburg is home to one of two Qhubeka bicycle assembly plants, where bicycles are built. These bicycles are intended for distribution to vulnerable South Africans via various Qhubeka-affiliated community programmes.