Four Nellmapius men have arrived in Cape Town after a 40-day walk to raise cancer awareness and support a friend whose two-year-old son has retinoblastoma.

Ricardo Springbok (42), Machenic Mokoena (41), Joy Mosehla (26) and Lesego Sibanyoni (37), of the Rom Springbok Foundation, reached the Cape Town CBD on Tuesday, November 10, after a 1 650km walk from Nellmapius to hand over a memorandum to Minister of Health Aaron Motsoaledi.

Mosehla said the journey was tough, with ups and downs, but they had memorable stories to tell about both the good and the bad times.

He said they reached Cape Town to hand over a memorandum to the minister, requesting ministerial engagement and a formal partnership for a community-based prostate cancer awareness and early-detection initiative.

Mosehla noted that although they were told the minister might not be available to receive the memorandum, they did not know who would receive it, but they were proceeding with the handover.

He said they were not planning to return home anytime soon without a response from the office of the minister.

The four men said they had come too far to return home without a response.

Mosehla said they planned to camp outside Parliament for five days until the demands specified in their memorandum were met.

“We did not walk for days, sleeping on the road, at police stations, under bridges and in the bushes, raising awareness about cancer, only to turn away without an answer,” said Mosehla.

Campaigning for community healthcare

The foundation’s walk aims to raise awareness and educate people about different types of cancer.

Driven by the motto ‘Hope in Every Step’, the foundation team said their journey was about considerably more than raising awareness through a symbolic walk.

Sibanyoni said their walk was intended to bring attention to the growing need for sustained, accessible and community-driven interventions in prostate cancer awareness, men’s health and early detection.

The need for awareness, early detection and access to appropriate healthcare services remains constant and requires an equally consistent response.

“Our vision is to develop a sustainable, community-based implementation programme reaching approximately 205 local municipalities across South Africa, prioritising economically disadvantaged, distressed and underserved communities, with particular attention to vulnerable wards within these municipalities,” said Sibanyoni.

He added this would be achieved through locally organised awareness workshops, accessible screening pathways, mobile healthcare outreach and transport assistance.

Mosehla added that cancer waits for no perfect day.

“Together, we can turn awareness into sustained community action,” he said.

Support along the road

Sibanyoni said they had learnt a lot from the journey and believed they had grown spiritually, both individually and as a team.

“We had our differences on the road to Cape Town and we managed to resolve them as we all had one goal: to reach Cape Town to raise awareness about cancer,” said Sibanyoni.

“We have been blessed on the route to Cape Town, met different kinds of people, and experienced bad times and good times,” said Sibanyoni.

“We received donations of sneakers, food and a sleeping bag and some offered us a place to sleep,” said Sibanyoni.

Other challenges they faced included Sibanyoni struggling with sore legs.

The walk to Cape Town started on October 1, inspired by their friend Alex Phiri (38), whose two-year-old son, Thabang Motau, was diagnosed with eye cancer, and to raise awareness about prostate cancer, noting that black men face a significantly higher risk of developing and dying from the disease compared to other racial or ethnic groups.

Phiri expressed his deep gratitude, stating that his friends showed true love and care after learning about his son’s condition.

Anyone wishing to donate funds to the group or provide accommodation while they wait for a response from the Department of Health can contact the foundation directly on 066 379 4357.

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