A Khayelitsha cyclist appointed to be the transformation specialist for Cycling Board of SA

Left: Bonga Ngqobane, Luthando Gqamana, Masibulele Nikani, Siphamandla Poto and Litha Mbana
Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa

Bonga Ngqobane, 26, the founder of Bonga Cycle Academy in Khayelitsha,  has finally accomplished his dream. He was appointed as South Africa Cycling Transformation and Transformation Specialist by the Cycling board of South Africa.

The 26 year-old  established the Cycling Academy in 2014 to keep young people away from the streets.

Asked what transformation would mean in cycling, Ngqobane said, “In cycling I believe bringing in participants from all colours and different backgrounds. This has to start from grassroots level that include black townships and rural areas.”

He is opposed to the quota system in cycling.

“To me quota system does not work. It is like you are placing someone to participate yet the individual has not reached that level of ability required. I believe individuals participating on national level should be chosen on merit and whoever so wishes to see himself or herself taking part at national level should work for it” he said.

Ngqobane’s role is to go around cycling academies in South Africa trying to find out what they need to develop cycling and encouraging women to also participate in this sport.

In addition he says, “I am also looking forward to let cycling be practised everywhere in the country like soccer. It must not be  a sport for the elite only.”

To realise transformation and development in this sport Bonga urged the national government and everyone to donate anything for development of the sport.

According to him for the sport to be fully transformed the government should play a leading role.

Also read:  Khayelitsha Cycling club is changing young people’s lives

“Now that I hold this national position I will make sure I knock at their doors until transformation is realised in cycling,” he said.

Ngqobane is proud of his role in cycling and how he managed to climb the ladder.

“I have done great work in Khayelitsha. I managed to train youth in taking cycling as a career and also change this attitude of loitering in the streets. Such has earned me this position,” he said.

During his early childhood he loved athletics. He usually competed in 12,000m race at school.

Migrating to Cape Town he began his love affair with cycling. To improve cycling skills, Bonga borrowed a bicycle from a friend who had given up cycling. He was inspired by the late cyclist, Ayabonga Ophila, who rode for the Toyota Cycle Lab Pro Team in Pretoria.

Copyright policy

Creative Commons LicenceThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Should you wish to republish this Elitsha article, please attribute the author and cite Elitsha as its source.

All of Elitsha's originally produced articles are licensed under a Creative Commons license. For more information about our Copyright Policy, please read this.

For regular and timely updates of new Elitsha articles, you can follow us on Twitter, @elitsha2014, and/or become a Elitsha fan on Facebook.

About Bernard Chiguvare 56 Articles
Originally from Zimbabwe and since 2014 I been contributing to different publications in South Africa. My area of focus as a reporter is on the rights of vulnerable communities and foreign nationals in any country.