A deaf endurance athlete on an anti-bullying journey is due to arrive in Cape Town today (Friday 13 March 2026.) Boikie Monareng will arrive here pushing a wheelbarrow which is symbolic of the emotional burdens many people carry in silence. He has been pushing it from Musina, all the way to the Mother City. He’s doing this to make people aware of the anti-bullying movement. Monareng also wants young people to speak out about it.
A deaf endurance athlete on an anti-bullying journey
Boikie Monareng is known as a South African endurance athlete. He is also an anti-bullying campaigner who was born in Bela-Bela in Limpopo. Monareng was born deaf and was subjected to bullying until the age of 15, when after a life-changing operation, he began hearing again. Monareng says but before he could hear, he endured the isolating cruelty of bullying. He added that this was an experience that would later shape not only his story, but his mission.
The isolating cruelty of bullying
During his difficult years of growing up being bullied, he turned to sport as a source of strength and discipline. This brought him nearly 400 medals across running, cycling and endurance events. Monareng says he hopes the journey will help lay the foundation for future anti-bullying centres and community support spaces where children can speak, heal, and find protection.
Future anti-bullying centres and community support spaces
While on his quest, he spoke to learners, communities, and supporters about the reality of bullying as well as the urgent need for greater awareness, compassion, and protection for young people. He has expressed the hope that this campaign sparks not only conversation, but also action.
“When he reaches Cape Town, he plans to take that burden to the sea in a symbolic act of release: pouring out what has wounded so many, and calling for a country that no longer allows children to suffer in silence.”
The Wheelbarrow-Symbolism
According to a media statement, pushing a wheelbarrow across provinces, is for Monareng, not simply taking on an endurance challenge. He says he’s carrying something far heavier: the emotional burden of bullying, rejection, trauma, and social pain. Monareng elaborated that this is the same weight many children and vulnerable people carry in silence every day.
“For Monareng, the wheelbarrow is symbolic. It represents the carrying of struggles people live with, often unseen.”
Once he arrives in Cape Town, he will visit a beach to symbolically release those burdens into the sea.
