Velokhaya

“The Velokhaya Life Cycling Academy was originally founded in 2003 as the LDCA (Life Development Cycling Academy). Later, the activities of both the Life Cycling Academy and Velokhaya were merged into what is today known as the Velokhaya Life Cycling Academy – or Velokhaya.”

Facts and figures:

• The Velokhaya Life Cycling Academy is based in Khayelitsha, at the Velokhaya BMX Oval. We currently have a total membership of around 400, of which 100 are active members. (The number of active members is largely determined by the number of bicycles available).

• Phil Liggett, the international voice of cycling and Tour de France commentator, has been Velokhaya’s chief patron since 2006.

• The Velokhaya Life Cycling Academy is the first and only organisation in South Africa to successfully develop cycling in disadvantaged communities to the level where its members are able to compete both nationally and internationally. Not only have our cyclists delivered top results, but their successes have inspired other youngsters (who are able to identify with them and their circumstances) to achieve success.

Our successes:

Velokhaya members make the organisation proud simply by being positive role models in a community desperately in need of those. They have also used their many achievements on the bike to bring great pride to the organisation, their families and their community. For example, Luthando Kaka was the first black SA cyclist to compete internationally as a permanent member of a European pro-team. Today he and Songezo Jim ride for pro teams in Johannesburg. (Luthando Kaka is currently riding for Team Bonitas and Songezo Jim rides for MTN Quebeka. Both are competing internationally and are financially independent).

“The Velokhaya Life Cycling Academy was originally founded in 2003 as the LDCA (Life Development Cycling Academy). Later, the activities of both the Life Cycling Academy and Velokhaya were merged into what is today known as the Velokhaya Life Cycling Academy – or Velokhaya.”

Facts and figures:

• The Velokhaya Life Cycling Academy is based in Khayelitsha, at the Velokhaya BMX Oval. We currently have a total membership of around 400, of which 100 are active members. (The number of active members is largely determined by the number of bicycles available).

• Phil Liggett, the international voice of cycling and Tour de France commentator, has been Velokhaya’s chief patron since 2006.

• The Velokhaya Life Cycling Academy is the first and only organisation in South Africa to successfully develop cycling in disadvantaged communities to the level where its members are able to compete both nationally and internationally. Not only have our cyclists delivered top results, but their successes have inspired other youngsters (who are able to identify with them and their circumstances) to achieve success.

Our successes:

Velokhaya members make the organisation proud simply by being positive role models in a community desperately in need of those. They have also used their many achievements on the bike to bring great pride to the organisation, their families and their community. For example, Luthando Kaka was the first black SA cyclist to compete internationally as a permanent member of a European pro-team. Today he and Songezo Jim ride for pro teams in Johannesburg. (Luthando Kaka is currently riding for Team Bonitas and Songezo Jim rides for MTN Quebeka. Both are competing internationally and are financially independent).

We aim to provide a much-needed safe after-school recreational and educational environment for township children. 

High levels of poverty and unemployment in townships mean that many young children are particularly vulnerable to social ills such as crime and substance abuse.

Not only do we want to involve these children in a positive and healthy after-school activity (ie sport/cycling), but our programmes have shown that increased self-esteem and confidence on the bicycle helps to inspire and equip young people to deal with the difficulties they face in life. It also teaches them to set and achieve their goals.    

This is because sport teaches them about commitment, determination, dedication, learning to win and lose etc.

Considering the high levels of youth unemployment in South Africa, it is vital that every young person gets a decent education to enable them as job seekers and entrepreneurs.

We believe our programmes support and supplement formal education by providing the children with essential skills – skills they are unlikely to learn at school considering the enormous constraints and challenges currently faced by South African schools.

As a Khayelitsha-based organisation, we are only too aware of the extent of the challenges faced by our township youth and we know that the skills our children need to deal with these challenges won’t necessarily be those they learn at school.

This is why we decided to implement a range of supplementary, cycling-based programmes aimed at giving children from poverty-stricken communitiesaccess to a more holistic education.

While we believe that sport should be an integral part of every child’s education, the reality is that many, if not most, township children do not have access to sporting facilities because their schools have limited or no sporting facilities. 

This is why we, as Velokhaya, are most grateful to the far-sighted corporate sponsors and individuals who’ve not only made it possible for township children to participate in cycling, but in doing so, have invested in the future development and growth of South Africa through the empowerment of its youth.

Unemployment is a huge problem around the world but South Africa has an exceptional crisis. 

Almost 32% (or 3,3 million) of the youth between the ages of 15-24 years are not in employment or undergoing any form of education or training. This means that the employment prospects for our youth (which account for more than half of the SA population) are particularly poor. 

The country’s high level of joblessness is also the main reason between 40% and 50% of South Africans live in poverty.   In fact, South Africa has also become the most unequal society in the world, with 50% of the population living on 8% of the national income. 

These high levels of poverty and unemployment threaten the future economic development and growth of South Africa; something that affects each and every one of us.

In light of the importance of education to the future economic growth of South Africa, our focus is on supporting and supplementing formal education by providing township children with the skills they are unlikely to learn at school (considering the enormous constraints and challenges currently faced by South African schools) – skills which are essential to their future success as adults. 

The Velokhaya Life Cycling Academy was founded in 2003 with the intention of using the sport of cycling to help empower and uplift children living in poverty-stricken communities and to give them the confidence to deal with, and rise above, the challenges they face.

We chose sport because it teaches children about resilience in the face of adversity, while giving them the opportunity to become physically and emotionally stronger. Sport also teaches them to strive for excellence, to be gracious in victory and to persevere in defeat.

We chose cycling because it was a sport which township children wanted to participate in and one which, until the formation of the Academy in 2003, had excluded a large percentage of SA’s population.

We also chose cycling because we wanted to expose township children to a sport that was aspirational, one that would take them out of their immediate environment and bring them into contact with the broader South African community, thereby encouraging social inclusion and allowing them to participate as equal members of society.

Furthermore, by keeping our children off the streets, they are less exposed to social ills and therefore less likely to become involved in activities such as crime and substance abuse. 

We have also found that success on the bike translates into other areas of their life, ie academic success.

The majority of our members have become positive role models in a community desperately in need of these. Our members’ combined achievements both on and off the bike have brought great pride to the community and encourages other children to join the programme.