Club hosts successful Women’s Day event
“When women are vulnerable, they need our support.”
On a chilly Women’s Day morning on the pavement of the infamous Butcher 2.0 Café in Daveyton, women and men dressed in their cycling gear gathered and prepared for a 20km ride around the township in honour of women.
Another group of women in pink and black costumes broke into song with fists in the air as they hit the road for a 5km walk to highlight issues affecting women.
Although this was a cycling and aerobics fitness fun day, the few men on site ran around doing final safety checks, ensuring the ladies would be safe on their separate journeys.
This is something Mpongo Cycling Club (MCC) member Mawethu Mahlathe wished could happen all year round and not only on August 9.
“When we ride with the ladies, we always ensure they are tucked safely to our left. We want men to realise women are as important as them. When women are vulnerable, they need our support,” he said.
A few years ago, an event like this was unusual in Daveyton, where the roads bustled with street vendors and unemployed youths huddled on every corner.
But the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic, which confined South Africans to the safety of their homes, helped turn the tide.
“The MCC has been doing this since 2020. We invite women from around the township to cycle with us. We try to introduce cycling to women every year on Women’s Day to increase participation,” said MCC treasurer Mamokete Hlalele.
The MCC chairperson, Maswazi Dlamini, shared Hlalele’s views, saying he was disturbed by the limited number of women cyclists.
“We want to see them more in the sport. We have some of the best women competitors, but they need our support. We hope in the future that we could recruit enough women to run this event on their own,” he said.
Hlalele said they added a 5km walk and an aerobics event this year to encourage a healthy lifestyle among the women in Daveyton.
She said they wanted women to know they had a safe sanctuary where they could meet and empower each other.
After returning from their walks and cycles, the ladies changed into their yoga pants and did an intense aerobics session led by gym-bunny Precious Nxele.
“We are pushing for the ladies in our community to adopt a healthy lifestyle. With this event, we also give exposure to women gym instructors equally as qualified as their male counterparts,” said Hlalele.
The event was supported by several organisations, including the Vutha Women’s Forum (VWF), which hosts monthly women-only meetings to discuss all things women.
“This is for women’s empowerment. It’s important to stop the myths that women don’t support each other. Women are important members of society,” said Koketso Mbathane, the founder of VWF.
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