The usually bustling Owen Street in the Mthatha was transformed into the city’s first ever public gym in an effort to get residents fit and healthy.
For two hours on Saturday morning, more than 60 people shed sweat and a few calories with a number of physical activities outside the Bhunga building.
The workout was a partnership between the Nelson Mandela Museum and the Umtata Health Club.
Xolani Mbotya, the owner of the health club, said they partnered with the museum because they saw that the people in OR Tambo district struggled to pay for gym facilities due to financial reasons.
“With this programme, we are taking gym to the people free of charge and we are aiming to change their lives through exercising,” he said.
“It’s not about money but changing the lives of people. For instance, schools cannot pay for their teams to go to the gym and we take them and train them.”
Museum CEO Bonke Tyhulu said they saw it necessary to partner with the health club to promote a healthy lifestyle following in the values of Nelson Mandela who used to take morning jogs.
“In a way Madiba was promoting what we are doing right now. We felt in order to remember Madiba, we need to do that in a number of ways,” said Tyhulu.
“We need to promote that healthy lifestyle so that we are able to engage with a very healthy youth. These activities also challenge one in a number of ways. We are using this programme to bring in a new dimension as part of preserving the legacy our Madiba left and to involve the youth.”
Two more workout sessions will be held – one this coming Saturday and another on December 1.
“We want to extend this beyond the front of the museum. We are a museum that is visited by a number of people from across the globe so if our area is being seen as crime-ridden, it becomes a challenge to invite people to visit,” Tyhulu said.
Anganawe Bhekiswa, who was among those who broke a sweat at Saturday’s workout, said she was happy to be part of the gym.
The 18-year-old said: “You can de-stress through gym. It is good mentally and in health. It is really helping.”
Her favourite gym routine was aerobics. “It is more like dancing as much as it is exercising.”
The partnership will be piloted until December 1...