Pediatric Care Africa’s (PCA) Dr André Hattingh and a team of bikers departed White River Square on Sunday morning, February 11, for the fifth Ride for a Child charity motorcycle ride.
Hattingh and a few other bikers, including a couple from Secunda and a man all the way from England, embarked on this epic 7 000km bike ride around South Africa in a bid to raise funds for medical treatment and surgeries for children in need.
Several bikers from various clubs from across the Lowveld gathered with Hattingh and the PCA team at the Square on Sunday morning, and while some of them would only be riding with Hattingh to as far as Graskop, others would be making the entire 7 000km journey. The latter include Petro and Marius Esterhuizen from Secunda and Nic Collins from England.
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Collins had said he had been visiting friends in South Africa and was travelling by motorbike when he heard about PCA’s Ride for a Child charity motorcycle ride and wanted to get involved. He will be heading back to England shortly after the charity ride comes to an end.
Speaking to Lowvelder just before his departure, Hattingh said this year’s ride is an important one, as it will not only be the last Ride for a Child ride to depart from White River, but also the year Hattingh will attempt to break the world record of the most motorbikes riding in a staggered formation.
He said they would need 4 500 motorbikes riding in this formation, which will create a line of bikers 50km long.
This attempt will take place on February 24, from 50km before the Caltex at the Mentors Plaza near Jeffrey’s Bay on the N2 towards Storms River ending at the Mentors Country Estate in Jeffrey’s Bay.
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Hattingh said the PCA is expanding to different parts of the country. He said while it will still operate in Mbombela, he and his wife, Joyce Crompvoets, will be moving to the Western Cape at the end of May, which is where the sixth charity ride will depart.
Hattingh and his team’s first stop was in Limpopo at Louis Trichardt. By midday on Monday, the team reached the Zimbabwean border at the Breitbridge Port of Entry, the most northern point of South Africa.
To find out more about PCA and how to participate in the world record attempt, contact Mandy on 072 034 0544 or the PCA office on 076 229 5663, or email info@pediatriccareafrica.org.
