Veteran Cape Town Cycle Tour rider Louis de Waal has passed away. He passed away on Sunday at the age of 85, on the 46th anniversary of the Cycle Tour.
De Waal was a keen cyclist and one of the only seven people (the Magnificent 7) who had taken part in every single Cape Town Cycle Tour. He did not take part in Sunday’s edition, but passed away at home.
It was his idea (along with Bill Mylrea and John Stegmann) to organise a cycling event around the Peninsula to pressurise the city council to think about bicycles as part of its urban planning and look after cyclists on the (by 1978 standards) busy roads.
Today, this event is what we see in the annual Cape Town Cycle Tour – the biggest timed bike race in the world.
What many people may not know is that de Waal was also the former Chairman and Director of the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway Company.
De Waal had a long and illustrious career with the Cableway, which included 40 years as Director and 20 as its Chair.
His time at the tourist attraction saw several memorable events and developments, which included two upgrades (in 1974 and the major one in 1997) of the cable car.
“It was just before the 1994 elections, a time of great uncertainty and board members John Harrison, Ron Reid, and myself had to foot the bill. It was a R103 million loan and we each stood surety for a third – my house was included, although I never told my wife,” said De Waal, in a media interview at the time.
“I was in favour of a 40-passenger (cable) car but John convinced me to go for the Full Monty. The impact of the upgrade was immediate with visitor numbers rising from 300 000 a year to over 700 000. That’s when I turned grey!”
“De Waal’s long involvement with TMACC spanned four decades during which he was a member of the board and played a pivotal role in steering the company through both prosperous and challenging times,” says current TMACC Board Chairperson Raymond Fenner.
As a qualified engineer, De Waal was intimately involved with the technical aspects of the running of the Cableway and worked together with Beat Musfeld (Garaventa) to ensure a smooth and safe operation. Garaventa is an international manufacturer of ropeways and people movers and manufactured the cable cars that are in use in Cape Town.
But his influence with the Cableway was on more than just a technical level, remembers the Cableway’s Operations Executive Mike Williams.
“During major upgrades in 1997, staff lived on the mountain for two-week stints. The connections forged there – between colleagues and with the mountain itself – have blossomed into lifelong bonds of friendship. I remember very clearly all those times that Louis came to check up on us and brought us soup. Louis was indeed a true gentleman. We will all remember him with fondness.”
De Waal also played a pivotal role in ensuring that Table Mountain was named a New 7 Wonder of Nature by lending the support of the Cableway Board to this campaign.
De Waal retired as Board Chairperson in 2013.
In 2002, he founded the Bicycle Empowerment Network (BEN) with a mission to provide access to opportunities through the use of a bicycle – giving hope and a step up to those who need it most.
His son, Anton de Waal, shared the following:
“Beyond his beloved Cycle Tour – he was incredibly proud of his association with Table Mountain and the Cableway – and what it meant to the City of Cape Town. Even after retirement he used to visit the Cableway often, especially helping with the annual Cableway Charity Challenge, by firing the start gun and cheering the athletes on.”
