Speaker, Shova Kalula [Pedal Easy] is the ANC government- sponsored initiative that provides bicycles to communities to ensure improved levels of mobility and accessibility. This is done by integrating rural, peri-urban and urban areas into an effective transport system. As a result, up to 2 000 children in townships around Siyabuswa and Kwaggafontein in Mpumalanga will no longer have to walk long distances to school.
This is after the MEC for public works, roads and transport, Clifford Mkasi, handed over 1 643 bicycles that will be distributed to schools in the Dr J S Moroka and Thembisile Hani Local Municipalities, north of Emalahleni/Witbank in the first week of November. This is part of the national Shova Kalula campaign, to cater for learners who have to walk up to 6 km to get to school.
The ANC welcomes this initiative to promote cycling as a low-cost mobility solution for low-income households, targeting many scholars, rural women and farmworkers. The ANC hopes that other provinces can revive cycling and emulate this initiative in order to curb children having to walk long distances to school, especially in rural communities. Thank you.