By SARAH KINGON
GERMAN cyclist Ralf Bernard was distressed when his R20 000 bicycle was stolen in Gonubie on Easter Friday. The Cambridge University graduate was four months and 7000kms through his cycling tour to various African countries and ready to head to Cape Town the following Monday. But thanks to the work of the supportive Gonubie community and especially the Mzamomhle team of marshals, his bike was recovered from the thief, fully intact, less than 48 hours later.
After Bernard graduated with a master’s degree in sustainable development at Cambridge, he worked with a German development agency in Uganda on renewable energy projects in rural areas. There he fell head-over-heels in love with Africa and decided to cycle across the continent.
“I wanted to experience the culture and communities and essentially see what Africa really is and can be. There is such a negative perception of the continent of Africa as a diseased place with Ebola and Malaria,” said Bernard.
He began the trip four months ago, travelling in a zag-zag through Malawi, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Botswana, Swaziland, Lesotho and now South Africa. He averages between 100 and 150kms each day, trying to stick off-road as much as possible.
Gonubie couch surfer host Bob Clayton, who hosted him while in Gonubie, said Bernard shared a slide show of his travels with the Gonubie Rotary Club, affirming that he was continually overwhelmed with the warmth and friendliness of all those he met. “Rural village people invited him into their homes wherever he passed by, refusing to accept payment and providing him with wholesome meals, a decent bed, warm water for bathing and a great deal of homely conversation,” said Clayton.
His fortunes changed for the worse in mid-March when he picked up ten spider bites on his left leg while in Mdumbi along the Wild Coast. This caused swelling, much pain and deep necrosis wounds meaning he required medical attention and could not continue cycling. A kind businessman brought him and his bike to Gonubie, where he recovered for 10 days.
On Easter Friday he went to the Gonubie beach for a walk with his hosts, leaving the bike locked onto a gate at home. When he returned, he was devastated to find his bike had been stolen and the lock of the steel garden gate had been wrenched off.
“It was a huge blow to me. I didn’t have funds to buy a new bike and needed to move on. It was my worst fear,” said Bernard.
An appeal was made by his hosts to friends, bringing immense community support. The local Spar offered a reward and others placed appeals on the Buffalo City Crime Spotter Facebook page, where a loan touring bike was even offered. The Gonubie police suggested he make contact with the Mzamomhle marshals, who are a vigilante group on a quest to clear crime in their community.
Deputy chairman of the H-section area committee Gugulethu Vellem and eight other marshals took photos of the bike across the community in an attempt to find it. “We were told on Saturday and struggled to search then because of the bad weather. On Monday we were told by a community member that someone tried to sell them the bike without a chain. He took us to the thief and we found the bike and returned it to the owner,” said Vellem, who has served on the committee for four years.
Bernard was relieved when the bike was found. He left for Cape Town last Wednesday with a warm heart for the people of Buffalo City. From there he hopes to venture to Namibia and then explore either Western Africa or the Middle East before returning to Europe.
Published in Go! & Express community newspaper on 16 April 2015
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