Bicycle Portraits: Everyday South Africans and Their Bicycles [From BA 43-400]

"We just ride around. When it is school we leave the bikes at home and then when we are home from school, we ride again."

from Bicycle Portraits, by Stan Engelbrecht and Nic Grobler

Denzil Blaauw

Moravia St, Genadendal, Western Cape, South Africa

2010/07/24 16:22

"I ride because I enjoy it, since grade five. My mom bought it for me, for my birthday. I ride all over Genadendal. We just ride around. To our friends. When it is school we leave the bikes at home and then when we are home from school, we ride again. We ride together. Sometimes we go to Stroomdrif, we swim and then we come home. We also go to the other side of Greyton, to a naartjie farm there. We pick some naartjies, put it in our backpacks and then ride home again."

Monty Bezuidenhout

Bicycle lane through Metro Industrial Township, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa

2011/05 /14 10:27

"I’m a on-and-off biker. It’s more for economy than for anything else, but it’s also got a lot of health benefits. I’m almost sixty years old so I need the constant exercise because I am deteriorating faster than what I can build up! Where I’ve got my workshop there in Rubgy the children are very naughty. Every three months or so you’ve got to replace your bicycle, or anything else you forget outside. It’s just part of the environment. This one I had for about six months. I built it up out of scrap that was lying around in my workshop. So every couple of months, I rebuild another bike out of nonsense...but it gets me there. This was a Rastafarian’s bike at one time. You can see the red, yellow and green. But, I’m not a Rastafarian. I’m just a human being. I’ve been a fridge mechanic since I was about 24. Got tired of delivering fridges and picking up fridges with a truck, so I prefer an unencumbered road. What can I say?"

David Twani

R48, De Aar, Northern Cape, South Africa

2010/07/29 14:52

"Man, it’s kind of like training. You know, how do you say...my knees locked, and I was still playing ball that time and I got hurt. But now, because I’m cycling they are better. This was my dad’s bicycle, so I’ve had this a long time—over twenty years. It’s an old model, it doesn’t really break down much. I don’t fix it myself, I’ve got a mechanic. He also lives there in Nonzwakazi, but he is not from here, he is from Colesberg. We just call him ‘Game.’ This eye got hurt in the Cape. They caught me there and beat me—the thieves. They robbed me, my eye was hanging out and I went to Tygerville hospital. I never use a taxi, I just go up and down with this bicycle."

Tanya Fouché

Dorp St, Stellenbosch, Western Cape, South Africa

2010/10/06 12:45

"I love to cycle, I feel free—like I’m flying. If I’m stuck in traffic I’m so frustrated and it does nothing for me. I also don’t like walking so even if I had to go one block I’d rather cycle. This is an old bike from school days; I always cycled to school and now I cycle to work—I’m working at the University as a study-abroad and exchange coordinator. When I cycle to work I feel like I’ve cleared my mind and when I get there I’m ready for work. When I drive in my car I can still be asleep when I get to work, even though I do concentrate on the road. It really does something to me, spiritually, personally...whatever. Ha ha!"