Bicycles make patrolling for CPFs easier

Qhubeka is an Nguni word that means to move forward and with a bicycle a person can travel faster and further.

Patrolling the streets to assist the police in fighting crime will be a little easier for the Community Police Forum (CPF) of Alexandra informal settlement and Orlando thanks to a bicycle donation from Qhubeka. 

The  NGO recently donated 260 bicycles to school children from Realogile High School, and members of the Alexandra and Orlando CPF in Gauteng.

The programme seeks to improve access to schools, clinics and jobs by providing bicycles for communities.

Qhubeka is Nguni word that means “to progress” or “to move forward”. With a bicycle, a person can travel faster and further.

Themba Phanya from the Orlando CPF said thanks to the bicycle donation, they are able to patrol their community and assist the police in the fight against crime.

“We are able to move from one street to the next quicker. Our plan is to work together with the SAPS in fighting crime in our community."

He added that it is initiatives such as this one where civil society, government and the private sector work together to fight crime.

This programme is also a public private partnership between the City of Johannesburg (CoJ), Qhubeka, Volkswagen South Africa and local schools and CPFs.

 “Our ongoing partnership with CoJ is part of a far-reaching bicycle programme in the region, which has included constructing bicycle lanes and funding bicycles to help school children and adults with personal transport,” said Qhubeka Executive Director Tsatsi Phaweni.

“These bicycles will help schoolchildren to get to school faster and regularly, while those for the CPF and patrollers will assist with more visible and effective security patrols, boosting the safety for everyone in the community.”

Last year, more than 90 bicycles were distributed to schoolchildren, health workers and CPF community members.

 “We’re so pleased that the partnership between the organisations has enabled us to give back to this deserving community,” says Meredith Kelly, Marketing Manager of Volkswagen Group South Africa.

 “Through partnerships like this one, we continue to see invaluable examples of how bicycles can help to transform communities. We hope to not only mobilise South African communities, but help ensure a better future for all who live in the country.”