Tutu Mntambo

Yeah I brought it up for context, not as a basis for my argument, simply for others to see that bike theft affects bikers as bikers and not bikers of a certain skin tone. Merely just sharing a perspective that I don't see much of on the hub, it would have been easy for me to say 'leave the man alone' or 'agh you people are all the same, can't see a black man with something nice and not question how he acquired it' but I engaged as a biker with a different perspective of life in South Africa, not as a black South African. We all have to do what we can to remain safe and if you have to opt for your older 90's looking model for you to enjoy cycling to work and back more safely then be open to that because we are not living in a time where ignorance or naivety towards the current state of affairs goes unpunished, better safe than sorry. As for debates about race & their connection to politics I'd rather not even touch that subject here, it's not worth getting into over a keyboard and a bowl of oats.

That's a fair comment seeing as nobody knows anything for a matter of fact right now however. I only recently bought a 'road bike' 6 months ago. Mind you it is a piece of **** that cost R2000 which I use to get to my accounting job 15km from home twice a week. I bought the 'piece of ****' because I know what happens in the streets of Johannesburg regarding theft and I wouldn't be caught dead riding a flashy bike from the South of Joburg into the city, it would be taken from me without a second thought by a bike thief who does not care about the colour of my skin. I do not wear high end gear either, just a pair of sneakers, shorts, a t-shirt, helmet and a backpack. We simply need to be conscious as people of the current state of affairs in the country, that there are more hungry people than those that are fed. There's a saying that a man who has nothing to lose is the most dangerous, so if you look like you don't have much to lose you are less likely to get mugged. Rather keep your expensive kit at home for a sanctioned race for your own safety and that of your family. Until things get better in our country for all you can expect to get your bike stolen off you if it looks like a good pay day to a criminal mind.

Chances are very good that this man did not steal the bike however he has spent some of his own money to buy from someone else who may have been a bike thief. Whether this man is the thief is very unlikely, bike thieves generally don't 'ride their own supply' so he is simply a man who needed a bike and came across someone who may have stolen the bike but is selling it off as his own. I see many black man who seem to not 'fit' the profile of someone who could afford a certain bike. Almost daily I see guys in overalls like the above mentioned riding bikes that cost muuuuuuch more than their assumed salaries and trust me when I say that no black man will spend more than R3000 for any bike unless he is a hobbyist with a 9-5 and a family. This coming from a black man at the age of 28, that man is not the owner of that bike and he is not the thief, he bought because he needed to get from home to work more quickly because the difference of 30minutes to get to a jobsite for many low income households can mean no dinner for the night or even a week. I'm glad u hubbers have engaged in a good spirited debate and avoided the issue of race, well done, I feel most of you may be right, hell I could be wrong too but we'll never know until someone asks him how much he paid for it...