Riding Across South Africa to End Hunger With UAH

JOHANNESBURG — In September 2026, Union Against Hunger co-founder Mark Heywood will ride the Go2sea Cross-Country Mountain Bike Challenge, a seven-day, 650 km race across some of South Africa's most beautiful and historic terrain, to launch a R1 million fundraising campaign for the Union Against Hunger. The ride, called “The Ride to End Hunger,” aims to fund community kitchens serving hungry communities and to raise awareness of the crisis of hunger and malnutrition facing South African children.

Setting off from Clarens in the Free State on 11 September, Go2sea is a travelling caravan of 400 riders crossing two provinces over seven days — from the Free State highveld, over the Spioenkop battlefield, through the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands and into the forests and cane fields of rural KZN, before finishing at the sea in Ballito. As he rides, Mark will document the communities he passes through and the hunger crisis they face, with dispatches appearing throughout in the Daily Maverick.

Mark is also riding in memory of Daily Maverick journalist Estelle Ellis, whose investigat...