Community pays tribute to mountain biking pioneer Meurant Botha

Meurant Botha, 50, widely regarded as a founding father of mountain biking in South Africa, died in a car accident near Calvinia on Saturday, September 13.

His close friend and fellow cycling icon JP van Zyl of Recycles Bike Shop also died in the accident.      

Mr Botha founded Dirtopia in 2000, the country’s oldest mountain bike event company, to advocate for sustainable trail access nationwide through Amarider in 2005, and the Trail Tag system, which cemented his reputation as South Africa’s most experienced trail builder and event organiser.     

“Meurant’s life was dedicated to the trails he built, the people who rode them, and the communities they created,” said his wife and business partner, Arina Botha.

“He was a husband, father, son, brother, and friend who will be deeply missed.”

He is survived by his wife, their two children, his parents, and brother.

Growing up in Bellville, Mr Botha was among the first to explore the Tygerberg Hills by mountain bike. He went on to build some of South Africa’s earliest and most important mountain bike trails. 

He built the first downhill track for events on Thelema Farm in Stellenbosch with the Lemmer family in 1993, according to his biography. With Jack Randall, he developed the Botmaskop trails, which hosted the 1997 and 1998 UCI World Cup races. 

Carinus Lemmer recalled: “We hosted massive marathon events around Tulbagh, and Meurant did most of the work, often sleeping in his VW Beetle. He was the steady one amongst us, completely committed to building the sport.”

Together with his wife, Mr Botha staged South Africa’s first national mountain bike racing (MTB) event in Citrusdal, 1999, and first MTB festival in Greyton, 2000. In 2003, the Cape Epic organisers called on him to design the inaugural route, according to his biography.

In Stellenbosch, he spearheaded the development of many of the town’s trails, including the ‘Never-ending Story’ trail in 2004 and ‘Never Say Never-ending Story Again’ in 2016. With Adventure Shop, he co-founded the Die Burger MTB Challenge, which drew more than 4 000 participants at its peak.

One of Meurant’s most lasting contributions was his passion for getting children onto bikes. In 2009, he launched the Spur Schools MTB League, which grew into the country’s largest high school cycling programme. 

This league launched the career of cross-country world champion Alan Hatherley. In 2017, he helped formalise Schools Cycling South Africa into its current structure.   

His latest project, the Bicycle League, launched in 2024 through Cycle2Ride, created grassroots MTB participation opportunities and trained new organisers. 

Western Cape School Cycling paid tribute to both deceased and stated, “ Meurant was a visionary and a pioneer in South African mountain biking. Among his many contributions, he was the founder of the National Schools MTB Series, a legacy that continues to inspire and grow the sport among young riders across the country.”

Bottelary Hills Conservancy & MTB Trails also weighed in and described Mr Botha as the “heartbeat of youth cycling development, opening doors for thousands of young riders to discover the joy of mountain biking.”