Western Cape Government Wants People to Cycle to Work, SA Has Mixed Reactions
- The Western Cape government is asking its residents to go green and ditch their cars for a more environmentally friendly mode of transport - cycling!
- Western Cape Transport MEC Daylin Mitchell on Wednesday promoted the initiative by cycling through the City of Cape Town
- South Africans took to social media and shared their mixed thoughts on the news
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Residents of the Western Cape province are being asked to ride their bikes to work. Local government hopes to cut back on air pollution by encouraging citizens to use the more environmentally friendly mode of transport.
Source: Getty Images
Speaking with News 24, Western Cape Transport MEC Daylin Mitchell said:
"It has always been this government's priority to get people out of motor vehicles and onto bicycles."
The MEC was speaking on Wednesday after a day of cycling through the City of Cape Town to promote the cycle-to-work initiative, Cape Town Etc reports.
South Africans took to social media and shared their reactions to the news. While some felt the cycle-to-work campaign to be a good initiative, others could not see it working well, especially given Mzansi's lack of infrastructure and high crime rate.
Check out some of the comments below:
James Kaufmann said:
"I can already see the pictures of Aunty Helen on her bike, celebrating her grand idea."
Singh RS said:
"Politicians must first go do this and forget the blue light brigade. Lead by example. We wanna see something."
Neil Benjamin said:
"Great initiative but they need to support it with infrastructure."
Tammy Solomons said:
"The government will now spend billions on cycle lanes even without thinking how easier it'll be for robbers. Eish, this country!"
Barbara Brooks Hutchison said:
"Yeah right, especially when that South Easter blows in summer and the North Wester in winter. I'd like to see how many people will stay on their bikes."
Reuben Cairns said:
"Cyclists don't pay a road tax but get cycle lanes. Also, most affluent areas already have cycle lanes, strange thing is there are not even decent parks in the other areas."
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SANDF and SAPS work together to prevent looting and taxi violence in Cape Town
In more from the City of Cape Town, Briefly News previously reported that the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) were deployed to Khayelitsha, Cape Town on Thursday. The SANDF is attempting to prevent any outbursts of violence and looting that had occurred in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.
Members of the South African Police Services (SAPS) were deployed alongside the SANDF. This comes shortly after reports emerged of ongoing taxi violence in the area. Essential public transport routes were also impacted by the taxi attacks.
According to News24, Khayelitsha Development Forum Chairperson Ndithini Tyhido says that the soldiers will be able to put an end to the ongoing taxi association feud. Tyhido stated that the situation was dire.
He explained that the deployment of SANDF has been welcomed by community members as commuters have suffered enough. Tyhido stated that the attack on public transport stemmed from the City's inability to resolve issues with the Congress of Democratic Taxi Associations and the MyCiTi bus service.
A report by The Citizen revealed that MEC for Community Safety in the Western Cape Albert Fritz stated that there had been no reported incidents of taxi-related violence by the SAPS from Tuesday evening until Thursday afternoon.
Fritz explained that the increase in law enforcement presence has brought some sense of calm to taxi ranks and that the situation is being carefully monitored.
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Source: Briefly News
