Home The EcoCity Concept City of Johannesburg The EcoVillage The Co-operatives Youth Environmental Co-operatives Iteke Waste Recycling Co-operative Shova Lula Cycle Co-operative EcoBanking EcoBuilders Community Ownership Energy Co-operative EcoVillage: a vision of the future The Trustees Acknowledgements	Shova Lula Cycle Co-operative That the Shova Lula Cycle Co-operative has made cycling cool in a car-mad city like Johannesburg is no mean achievement. That the Department of Transport will fund and build five kilometres of cycling track is recognition of one of the most innovative and inspiring examples of sustainable living in Ivory Park. It also means that EcoCity is succeeding in getting its principles noticed nationally in a first step toward project replication. The Shova Lula Cycle Co-operative promotes bike use both as an ecologically sound means of transport and as a project for poverty alleviation and wealth creation. Its members sell and repair bicycles from a container in Ivory Park. They have received second-hand bicycles from an organisation in the United Kingdom called Re-cycle, though there is also a local market. In addition, the co-op also advocates cycling as a means of healthy living and as a cheap and easy transport system for local entrepreneurs. Non-motorised transport is vital to the economic development of depressed communities. In some Asian countries as much as 30 percent of the economy is directly or indirectly dependent on bicycles. To draw in young people to the project, a team of cyclists takes to the streets in colourful yellow cycle gear. Well-toned and muscular, they are moving advertisements for the benefits of bicycles over cars. “We’re trying to divert youth from drugs and other habits,” says co-ordinator Elliot Nhlapo. “I do this to protect myself and it makes me healthy,” says 18-year-old Eldrid Mogatlane. “And a healthy body means a healthy mind,” she adds. Shova Lula has had a boost recently through the development of a number of different partnerships. One of these is the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives fund which has provided mentoring and the importation of used bikes from Europe. And now a partnership with Anglo-American’s Young Managers Group will mean additional business mentoring of the worker-owners. Another important partner is Afribike, a national NGO which imports the used bikes from Europe and sources grants to make them cheaper to the business. They have played an important mentoring and support role over the past few years and continue to be a valued partner for Shova Lula. The Department of Transport has included the programme in its pilot programme and continues to promote cycling in South Africa as a means of transport. Other partners include the Ivory Park Taxi Association and the Midrand Chamber of Commerce. A project catching on around the country, Shova Lula is a great example of finding the connection between sustainable livelihoods using green transport means.