At an Executive Committee (EXCO) meeting held by Cycling South Africa on 28 January 2016, Cycling SA President William Newman put forward a motion to have Messrs. Pierre Leukes and Charles Beukes co-opted onto the EXCO.
Mr Leukes was previously the Secretary of the South African Cycling Association (SACA) during the apartheid years and Mr Beukes, an avid supporter of the sport, was the President of the South African Cycling Board (SACB) and drove development of the sport in the Boland region and more specifically, Worcester. Mr Beukes was the organiser of the inaugural Tour de Boland in 1978.
The main focus of Mr Leukes and Mr Beukes is to drive recognition of those cyclists and administrators who were not recognised during the apartheid years as well as to provide guidance with regards to Transformation and Development within the National Federation. Significantly, the initiative will have a direct impact on Cycling SA’s Transformation and Development objectives.
Cycling SA President, William Newman, said: “In our efforts to recognise the past we’ve always said that we want to give recognition to those who have served the sport and I am very excited about this opportunity to get two very knowledgeable members of the cycling community involved in the Federation. It is a very important step for us and the future of our sport hinges on initiatives like these. We need to get cycling out to the masses and this is a step in the right direction. They will be catalysts to ignite the sports in their communities as it was back then and this will lead to a closer interest in the sport and a closer cooperation with Cycling SA. We look forward to walking the path with Mr Leukes and Mr Beukes and to start seeing the results of their valuable contribution in the next two to three years.”
