Press Release PRESS RELEASE – 10 Feb 2020The first ever Human Rights Cycle Tour (HRCT) of South Africa is cancelled.It is with great regret, and concern, that we, the Exco of the HRCT, make this announcement.This decision was taken after 20 months of planning and negotiation with various stakeholders tobring the first event of its kind to the African continent. The race was envisaged as a tribute to the countless South Africans who have made the ultimatesacrifice for our freedom from the darkness of apartheid and other human rights abuses. So ourregret extends not only to our supporters and well-wishers, but particularly to our sponsors andmedia partners who embraced the event and selflessly committed to it their valuable resources.In this respect we gratefully acknowledge the magnanimity of Retro Active, Busy Corner MeatHyper, Jive (The Beverage Company) and our media partners Cape Times (IndependentNewspapers), Smile 90.4FM and iTV. In addition, we thank the many thousands of cyclists who have shown interest to participate inthis event. Many of them, nationally and internationally. Given the gravity and austerity of our decision, we are obliged to expound. At the heart of ourdecision is our challenge of dealing with the City’s bureaucracy. After submitting 17 versions ofour race route over several months, our committee found that the repeated refutation of the Cityto officially approve the event had turned into an impasse.In addition, the Special Events Committee (SPEVCO) of the City had not met our expectation forfinancial assistance in covering the costs for traffic personnel, SAPS, Disaster Management, etc.in the amount of hundreds of thousands of Rands. We deemed a reasonable expectation dueSPEVCO’s routine support other similar events.Another contributing factor was the reneging of one of our platinum sponsors on their financialcommitment to the event.Finally, MiCity approved only the outgoing lane from Christiaan Barnard to Paarden Eiland. Theyrefused to approve both lanes for the event from 6:30am-9:00am. With thousands of cyclistsgoing through the lane our technical team is of the view that we will be putting cyclists at riskshould we go ahead using one lane only.The compounded impact of the above left the Exco of the HRCT with no option but to cancel theevent.We wish to assure everyone who has entered that their entry fees will be refunded in full.Yours faithfully,Mohamed JafferChairman – Human Rights Cycle Tour
