This past Monday, Sileku, the Western Cape MEC of Mobility, paid a visit to the Karoo town.
The scheduled visit fell within the ambit of the Provincial Sustainable Transport Programme (PSTP) and Sileku donated bicycles to learners at Beaufort-West Primary School and John D. Crawford Primary School Cape {town} Etc reports.
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The scope of the programme included liaising with the principal and staff at both primary schools, a hand over ceremony, bicycle safety training for the students and Sileku’s testimony to the project and its importance.
According to the Western Cape Mobility Department, the donation marks a milestone for the programme, which has been implemented to improve mobility and enhance access to transport in marginalised and lower-income communities.
The PSTP programme further focuses on rural areas across the Western Cape and in addition to facilitating access to transport, it incorporates elements of economic and entrepreneurial development and growth, community safety and social enhancement.
Sikelu claimed that one of the objectives of the bicycle programme is to highlight the necessity of non-motorised means of transport.
‘The project has already had a positive impact on learners, small informal businesses and community development interventions that need transport,’ said Sileku.
These bicycles serve as a means of transportation to and from school and after-school activities.
Furthermore, the increase in access to transport will aid families and communities in gaining access to more opportunities while developing the body and the mind of young learners.
Sileku went on to say that the bicycles should serve as motivation for the learners to become involved in the cycling community and perhaps take cycling up as a profession.
Collin Soldaat, the principal of John D. Crawford Primary, thanked MEC Sileku for the visit and testified that the bicycles would indeed improve both mobility and social conditions within the community.
‘They regard the bicycles as a blessings as, this mode of transport, will make it easier for them to get to school. Our learners feel valued and appreciated,’ said the Beaufort-West Primary School headmaster, Mister Andries Amsterdam.
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