How a cycling group is trying to make Cape Town’s roads safer

A ghost bike in memory of Allen Cox. Cox and two other cyclists were travelling down the scenic road towards Hout Bay on 2 August 2025 when a tour bus turned across the road in front of them. Cox died at the scene. The second cyclist was airlifted to hospital and recovered. The third cyclist sustained minor injuries. Photos: David Harrison

The deaths of Idries Sheriff, 41, and Francois Esterhuizen, 55, in Cape Town in the past week have highlighted the dangers faced by road cyclists from reckless or inattentive drivers.

In July veteran cyclist Dennis Hammar, 77, was pushed off his bike during a violent robbery on F.W. de Klerk Boulevard. He died of post-surgery complications.

Danilo Waena, 35, was cycling to his bike mechanic job at Olympic Cycles on 1 July when a driver in a parked car opened their door on Claremont main road, forcing Waena to suddenly swerve onto the road. He was hit by a taxi and died on scene.

This is a very common accident for cyclists and is known as “dooring”.

Last year Calib de Kock, 17, was killed on a training ride along Beach Road in Sea Point. He collided with a car door that was suddenly opened in front of him.

In August Allen Cox, 57, and two fellow cyclists were riding down Chapmans Peak Drive towards Hout Bay when they collided into a tour bus that had turned into a lookout point area. Cox, a Hout Bay resident, died on the scene. The other two riders recovered.

On 11 June 2024, 17-year-old Calib de Kock was on a training ride with Phoenix Cycling Club when a car door suddenly opened in front of him on Beach Road in Sea Point. He collided with the door causing severe injuries. De Kock was taken to the Netcare Christiaan Barnard Memorial hospital but died of his injuries. The hospital bill of over R360,000 was waived by Netcare and other medical professionals. A ghost bike was installed on the pole in the centre of the road on the left of the photo, but was recently stolen, likely for its scrap value.

To help improve motorists’ awareness of cyclists, the Pedal Power Association (PPA) is emulating an initiative that started in the US, known as ghost bikes.

In 2003 Patrick Van Der Tuin, an artist in the US city of St Louis, witnessed a cyclist being hit by a car. He decided to paint a bicycle white and place it where the accident happened with a sign saying “Cyclist Hit Here” to act as a signal to motorists to be aware of cyclists.

He noticed the effect on driver behaviour the bike had and put up another 15 white-painted bikes around St Louis, where cyclists had been hit. Sometimes he used damaged bikes to create a mangled effect.

And so the ghost bikes initiative was born.

The ghostbikes.org website states:

“Ghost Bikes are small and sombre memorials for bicyclists who are killed or hit on the street. A bicycle is painted all white and locked to a street sign near the crash site, accompanied by a small plaque. They serve as reminders of the tragedy that took place on an otherwise anonymous street corner, and as quiet statements in support of cyclists’ right to safe travel.”

PPA has placed ghost bikes around Cape Town. Many of the bikes have since been stolen because they have scrap value.

PPA’s safety liaison organiser Liz Heydra told us, “You know we put these bicycles up, but sometimes within a week they’re gone. It’s sad, but true.”

The ghost bike for Danilo Waena on Claremont Main Road. Waeno worked as a bike mechanic for a bike shop, Olympic Cycles, just up the road. On the morning of 1 August 2025 on his way to work he was killed after he swerved to avoid colliding with a car door that was suddenly opened in front of him and he was hit by a taxi.

Danilo Waena was a Mozambican national. He had worked for Olympic Cycles for 14 years and was supporting his wife and son in Mozambique. A Backabuddy campaign after Danilo’s accident raised enough money to help his family.

The bikes installed for Hammar and de Kock have been taken as was the bike for Ian Macpherson who was stabbed to death in a robbery while mountain-biking in Fish Hoek’s Sun Valley in 2018.

Drunk driving, mobile phone use while driving, cycling side-by-side and other forms of inattention, as well as crime make cycling unnecessarily dangerous in the city.

To increase cyclists’ confidence on the roads, PPA organises social rides, where more experienced volunteers lead new cyclists.

Veteran cyclist Rodney Beck, ahead of a PPA social ride that started in Mowbray, told GroundUp:

“We want to keep everybody close; we stop along the way a few times. It’s a social ride. A lot of the riders need confidence on the road, to feel safe within the group because cycling alone is not safe. It’s all about enjoying it and trying to promote cycling and hopefully get these riders out of the entry level group so that they can get fitter and improve. Cycling can be very intimidating when you first start out. I don’t care what bike you’ve got, what you look like, let’s just get on our bikes and ride.”

Rodney Beck (centre) has lots of road cycling experience. He volunteers for PPA, leading social rides for entry level cyclists looking to build their confidence on the road.

A social ride organised by the PPA from their office in Mowbray. The PPA launched a safe cycling campaign, Stay Wider of the Rider Initiative, in 2011 to promote a safe passing distance of 1.5m between vehicles and cyclists.

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