A decade of the Seven7 Drive in aid of kids with cancer
Documentary by renowned South African filmmaker, Koos Roets, to flight on Ignition at the end of January 2026
The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry, and so it was too with the 2025 Seven7 Drive. Planned in minute detail based on a decade’s experience of traversing South Africa’s highways and byways to generate awareness and raise funds for childhood cancer, the first disruption to the plan happened on the very first day as expedition leader and co-founder of the Seven7 Drive, Danie Botha, set off from Johannesburg with renowned filmmaker, Koos Roets, in the passenger seat.
The first stop was Durban, where the third member of the Drive, Ahsheem Singh, would meet the team after completing a cycle race in the morning. En route the news reached the crew that Ahsheem had been in an accident.
“As it turns out, Ahsheem's bicycle accident required him to have an operation to repair his broken collar bone, and there was no chance that he could fly to meet us in Durban, never mind go on a 5,000 km drive around the country,”
recalls Botha.
“So, we were down to one driver, and one videographer.”
Thankfully, this is where the disruptions stopped. Following the first hospital visit at Charlotte Maxeke in Johannesburg, Botha and Roets went on to visit the paediatric ward of Grey Hospital in Pietermaritzburg, the Universitas Academic Hospital in Bloemfontein, the Port Elizabeth Provincial Hospital, the Tygerberg Children’s Hospital in Cape Town, the Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe Hospital in Kimberley, and the Polokwane Hospital before concluding the 2025 Seven7 Drive at the Steve Biko Academic Hospital in Pretoria.
Go With More – and then some!
Seven days of gruelling driving on often very tight schedules, the Drive was infinitely better off in 2025 thanks to the partnership with GWM South Africa.
“The GWM P300 LS played a pivotal role on this trip,”
comments Botha.
“Not only did the cabin prove to be a very comfortable place to spend a lot of kilometres in, but the permanent four-wheel drive system also provided sure-footed handling in all the adverse conditions we encountered. From heavy rain to mud to lots of gravel roads, the GWM inspired confidence in all conditions. Despite having a transfer case and a rear differential lock on the reserve bench, these were never needed, not even in extremely muddy conditions.”
And how diverse the driving conditions were! From the congested N3 highway leading to Durban, the rough-end-tough gravel mountain passes, the myriad roadworks in the Western Cape to the wide-open spaces and blue skies of the Norther Cape and the hustle and bustle of the North West’s roads, the 2025 Seven7 Drive experienced it all.
“Because of the often-busy roads, there was hardly an opportunity to try and save fuel when overtaking trucks and slower moving traffic,”
Botha tells.
“We had to use all of the GWM's 135 kW and 480 Nm of torque to get the job done safely! Yet despite the often lead-footed overtaking moves, the P300's 2.4-litre turbodiesel engine, coupled to a nine-speed automatic gearbox, still averaged just 8.8 litres/100km. That's pretty impressive!”
Join the journey
A very special 30-minute documentary of the 2025 Seven7 Drive, filmed and produced by renowned South African filmmaker, Koos Roets, will air on Ignition between 26 January and 1 February 2026.
- Monday, 26 January 2026 at 01:00 and 05:00
- Tuesday, 27 January 2026 at 09:00 and 21:00
- Wednesday, 28 January 2026 at 06:00 and 18:00
- Thursday, 29 January 2026 at 13:00 and 23:00
- Friday, 30 January 2026 at 15:00
- Saturday, 31 January 2026 at 01:00 and 19:00
- Sunday, 1 February 2026 at 07:00
“The Seven7 Drive for Kids with Cancer NPC continues to systematically shift its focus to education and creating more awareness about the benefits of early detection, and while we’re already working on several new initiatives for 2026, the annual Drive across South Africa will remain our flagship fundraiser,”
comments Botha.
Seven7Drive thanks their partners!
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