Qhubeka

Qhubeka is a South African not-for-profit organisation that donates bicycles as part of the World Bicycle Relief's charity programme in South Africa. Qhubeka is currently supported by the Dimension Data UCI World Tour cycling team (formerly MTN-Qhubeka).

Qhubeka
Motto#bicycleschangelives
Formation2005
FounderAnthony Fitzhenry
Location
  • South Africa
Websiteqhubeka.org/2013/

History

The Qhubeka was founded in 2005 by Anthony Fitzhenry. The name Qhubeka means "to move forward" in Nguni.[1][2][3] Qhubeka provides bicycles for children to attend schools, and for adults to attend work, with estimates suggesting a 75% reduction in commuting time and 23% higher attendance at schools for people given a bicycle by the Qhubeka.[1][4] In order to be given a bicycle, the recipients are first required to take bicycle safety and maintenance training courses.[5] The organisation also donates one bicycle for every 100 trees grown, or for every ton of rubbish collected.[6] Qhubeka has donated over 100,000 bicycles.[7]

In 2013, the organisation became part of the World Bicycle Relief,[1] and in November 2013, RCS Sport, the organisers of the Giro d'Italia, donated 58 bicycles to Qhubeka.[4] In 2014, Qhubeka encouraged people to ride for 67 minutes and donate R67 on Mandela Day,[8] and the Berg and Bush mountain bike race in KwaZulu-Natal chose Qhubeka as their charity to support.[9] In 2015, the organisation donated 5,020 bicycles,[5] and in June 2016, 100 bicycles were donated by Auto Trader.[10]

Professional cycling

In 2011, MTN Group changed the name of their UCI Continental Team from Team MTN to MTN-Qhubeka, in order to promote the organisation.[11] In 2013, Samsung, who sponsored the MTN-Qhubeka team, donated R2 million to the charity.[3] For the 2016 season, the UCI World Tour team was renamed Dimension Data for Qhubeka, to clarify that the team were supporting the Qhubeka charity, rather than receiving sponsorship from them.[12] During the 2016 Tour de France, the Dimension Data team also took part in the Qhubeka 5000 fundraising initiative, which aims to deliver 5,000 bicycles in 2016. The initiative encouraged people to ride between 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) to 208 kilometres (129 mi);[13][14][15] during the first two weeks of the Tour, the Qhubeka charity received R600,000.[16] In November 2018, the Dimension Data team donated 75 bicycles to a school in Khayelitsha.[17] For the 2021 season, the team will be renamed Qhubeka Assos.[18]

References
  1. "Qhubeka: mobilising a population". Union Cycliste Internationale. 22 August 2014. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
  2. Nash, John (21 March 2013). "MTN-Qhubeka: Cycling to end the cycle of poverty". Wheel Suckers. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
  3. "Samsung Electronics SA donates R2-million to the Qhubeka initiative". Media Update. 24 July 2013. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
  4. "Giro d'Italia organiser RCS Sport and Qhubeka hand out bikes in South African charity initiative". Velo Nation. 15 November 2013. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
  5. Luiz, Samantha (30 January 2016). "This great initiative is changing lives one bicycle at a time". You.co.za. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
  6. "Qhubeka: bicycles for rural development". SouthAfrica.info. 2 May 2013. Retrieved 19 July 2016.
  7. "Qhubeka helps 100,000 people, mostly pupils to own a bike – Anthony Fitzhenry". biznews.com. 24 October 2019. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  8. "MANDELA DAY MARATHON MTB DASH PARTNERS WITH QHUBEKA". Full SUS. 2014. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
  9. "Berg and Bush adopts Qhubeka initiative". Full Stop Communications. 26 June 2015. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
  10. "360 bicycles donated to Qhubeka in AutoTrader #DriveChange campaign". Biz Community. 30 June 2016. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
  11. "Briefly…MTN cycle team gets new look". The Media Online. 27 February 2012. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
  12. Nelson, Adam (28 September 2015). "Dimension Data new title sponsor for MTN-Qhubeka". SportsPro. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
  13. "Three Africans in DiData TdF team". SuperSport. 27 June 2016. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
  14. "Ride to fund bicycles to mobilise people in South Africa". High5. 1 July 2016. Retrieved 19 July 2016.
  15. Howells, Kieran (30 June 2016). "MET for Qhubeka". Bike Biz. Retrieved 19 July 2016.
  16. Olivier, Harry (15 July 2016). "More than half a million raised for charity by Qhubeka". South African Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 19 July 2016.
  17. "Qhubeka cycling team distributes bicycles in Khayelitsha". Independent Online. 19 November 2018. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  18. "NTT team confirmed to race on as Qhubeka Assos". Cyclingnews.com. 20 November 2020. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
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