Newly appointed Cycling SA’s Bonga Ngqobane has said his focus would be on addressing the ongoing issue of transformation within cycling.
The youth, development and transformation commission chair said in a statement released by the national federation that he would like to see equality in numbers in all events across all disciplines.
Ngqobane said he hoped to encourage more historically disadvantaged communities to participate in the sport, with the ultimate goal being to produce world class athletes capable of winning Olympic medals.
Bonga Ngqobane, a cyclist himself, said he would focus on addressing the ongoing issue of transformation within the sport. Photo: Supplied
“It is my dream to see cycling transformation and development taking off and I am here to make sure it does,” he said.
“I urge all parties, individuals and boards involved in cycling to please work hand in glove with me in changing the circumstances that we have faced over the years.
“I have a lot of commitment to my position and it is my dream that when I walk out of this position, we would have seen true change.”
Ngqobane has been closely involved with the sport since 2005, when he joined the Velokhaya Cycling Academy as an U16 rider. He rode with them until he was an U23 semi-pro rider.
He left the academy in 2011 before joining the Youth Empowerment Project Clan, a registered youth civil society organisation which focuses on youth advocacy through encouraging voluntary participation in empowering young people and building better communities.
Through the YEP clan Ngqobane assisted young children with sourcing sponsors, training and transportation to events.
Building on these foundations, and seeing a gap in the market, he then founded the Bonga.org cycling academy in 2014.
“It was the idea of changing lives through sports and education and promoting schools cycling in the townships,” he said.
“An Inter-Schools Cycling League was then born as a programme to fast-track true transformation and development of cycling in historically disadvantaged communities.”
For Ngqobane, his new position is the next step as he has always been passionate about cycling development and transformation in both rural and urban areas across South Africa.
