100+ Cyclists ride to Giyani Primary School on Mandela Day 2026

More than 100 cyclists took part in the Mandela Day Charity Ride in Soweto, with a shared purpose: to help create better opportunities for young people through education. The ride culminated in the Nelson Mandela Foundation in partnership with the Ride4Hope Foundation, the Department of Basic Education, delivered a new block of classrooms under construction at Giyani Primary School in Soweto.

The classroom handover formed part of the Classrooms4Hope initiative, a longstanding partnership that has delivered nearly 50 classrooms across South Africa over the past decade. Once completed, the new classrooms at Giyani Primary School will help reduce overcrowding, creating a safer and more conducive environment for teaching and learning. Aspen also contributed towards the establishment of a new science laboratory, as well as books and dignity packs for learners, further strengthening the school's learning environment.

Speaking during the official programme, Nelson Mandela Foundation General Counsel Tamryn Sass reflected on this year's Mandela Day theme, "It Is Still in Your Hands," describing it as a call to move beyond remembering Madiba's legacy and to actively mobilise it. She emphasised that the classroom handover represented far more than a construction project—it was an investment in the future of every learner who will walk through its doors.

Nelson Mandela believed that education is one of the most powerful tools for changing the world. The Classrooms4Hope initiative continues to give practical expression to that belief by demonstrating what is possible when organisations, government and civil society work together with a shared commitment to expanding opportunity.