The Changan Hunter that drove 5 000km for kids with cancer

On Heritage Day morning, while most of the country was lighting a fire, a convoy met at sunrise in Pretoria and set off on a 5 000km lap of South Africa.

It was the 2026 Seven7 Drive for Kids with Cancer, and one of the vehicles carrying the load was a Changan Hunter.

What the drive is

Seven7 Drive started in 2015. The idea is simple and it has not changed: get to the children's oncology wards in person, bring something real, and remind the families in them that somebody outside the hospital is thinking about them.

This year the run took in seven provinces and eight hospitals in the last week of September, which is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Over 200 children received gifts and supplies. Blankets, beanies, socks, snacks. The sort of thing that does not make a headline and matters enormously when you are eight years old and cold in a ward.

It began at Steve Biko in Pretoria, went north through Polokwane and Thabazimbi, cut down through Kimberley to Tygerberg in Cape Town, then turned for home via Kareedouw, Bloemfontein and the Swartberg to finish at Charlotte Maxeke in Johannesburg.

Why the vehicle mattered

Anyone who has driven a rural route in this country in spring knows the roads were never going to be the easy part. The convoy ran highways, farm tracks, gravel and dirt, and a fair amount of it was in a state.

It is hard to believe we used to do this in two-wheel-drive vehicles, but as we've learned over the years, the weather can be really unkind. The last thing you want is to have to cancel a visit because the car can't get you there.

That is the whole brief in one sentence. The bakkie is not the point of the trip, but a bakkie that cannot finish the trip cancels a ward visit, and a cancelled ward visit is a room full of children who waited for nothing.

The Hunter on the drive was the 2.0 4WD automatic diesel double cab. On the slippery clay of Bakkers Pass between Polokwane and Thabazimbi, and again on Naudé's Nek in the Eastern Cape, the rear diff lock and 226mm of ground clearance did the work. The 110kW and 350Nm turbodiesel handled 800km days. The 1 000kg payload carried crew, gear and gifts at the same time.

There is a difference between a spec sheet and a spec sheet that has been tested for a week by people who could not afford to break down. This is the second kind.

The bit we keep thinking about

The team met Bobby Were, an advocate for the Cancer Association of South Africa, at one of the stops.

I know it's been a heck of a long way for you guys to come, but we really appreciate it. The joy that you have brought to these kids today helps them because they know they're not alone. They can see something tangible and feel that there is someone thinking about them.

They also met Nita van der Berg in Bloemfontein, a young survivor, which is the reason the whole exercise exists.

On a sobering mission like this, it's obviously about the kids and Seven7 Drive's inspiring efforts to spread some joy. But we're thrilled to have been able to provide Danie and his team with a vehicle that could go the full distance and carry all their essentials.

The same bakkie is on our floor

Zululand runs on bakkies, and most of them earn their keep on roads that are not much better than the ones on that route. Cane tracks, timber roads, farm gates, the back way to a site when the main road is closed.

The Hunter double cab is at 1 Cent Circle and you are welcome to drive one. Ask the awkward questions. It has just done 5 000km of this country's worst surfaces for a very good reason, and it got there every time.

If you want to know more about Seven7 Drive for Kids with Cancer, or you want to help, look them up. They do this every year and they do it on their own time.