KATLEGO MKWHANAZI
Sonop is gearing up for its Drommedaris Charity Cycling Tour. The Drommedaris VII project is a cycling tour from Pretoria to Middelburg (Karoo). The tour will be from 22 April until 2 May. “The cycling tour has become a tradition. It’s one of our big fundraisers,” says Jaco Joubert, the Sonop Rag HK. Sonop aims to collect funds in the ten cities they will be cycling through.
All proceeds will be donated to the Just Footprints Foundation, a non-profit organisation that supports for children suffering from life threatening illnesses.
The total estimated distance of the tour is 1015 km.
However, it won’t just be all about hard work. The men will also stop for 2 nights at the Bloemfontein Kunstefees. “Everytime we stop we’ll be doing some fundraising,” continues Joubert.
According to Joubert, what makes this tour adventurous is that the men will be cycling in different cities and sleeping anywhere they can: in tents, school halls or the open road.
“Its going to be special because we are doing this tour as a res,” says Joubert.
The first Drommedaris tour was to Zimbabwe in 1966. The aim of the tour was to create hype around Sonop’s fiftieth anniversary as well as to raise funds for those in need of help in Zimbabwe. Since then, Sonop holds this tour every second year.
“It’s a student event must,” Joubert concludes.
Sonop will also be running a sms line which people can use if they want to donate towards the cause. People should sms “drom” to 38947 or go to BlackaBuddy.co.za to donate. Smses are charged at R5. Sonop is also running a Facebook page which charts the routes they will be taking and the cities they will be visiting. They encourage anyone who can to donate.
