socio-economic development through mobility

Qhubeka provides a useful case study in improving rural mobility where small-scale transport initiatives are crucial. This is a story that began with distributing bicycles to people who would otherwise walk long distances. But the lessons are about how to empower local communities.

South African company Axiz requires its employees to undertake 24 hours of community service every year. After starting to import California bikes to local communities, they found that there were a lot of challenges that needed to be overcome before the bikes could become a useful community tool. People who had never had access to bikes had to learn to ride and maintain them, and Qhubeka became a project not only to teach those skills, but also to instil in the community a sense of value that ensured that the bikes were not stolen.

The project eventually expanded to address other community issues such as financial management and the role of women in the community:

By focusing on the establishment of social infrastructure, Axiz, Qhubeka and its partners are contributing to the sustainable upliftment of communities through the transfer of skills, technology and education, which helps these communities to become productive members of society.

Some of the Qhubeka partners are also involved with bicycles in Namibia and Botswana.