September 2023 – The annual Seven7 Drive in aid of childhood cancer awareness is set to kick off in Johannesburg on Monday, 25 September 2023. Now in its eighth year, the annual Seven7 Drive – supported by Kia South Africa since inception – will again be spearheaded by one of the initiative’s co-founders, well-known adventure and overlanding journalist, Danie Botha, accompanied by South African motorsport legend, Hannes Grobler, and a group of enthusiastic, adventure-ready content creators and journalists.

September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, and as the month draws to a close, the Seven7 Drive team will visit several towns and cities across South Africa over seven days. Covering just less than 7,000km, the Seven7 Drive will visit Durban, Rhodes, Gqeberha, Barrydale, Cape Town, Upington, Polokwane and Pretoria to raise funds for Cupcakes of Hope, a charity organisation that raises awareness and funds for families in need of medical assistance.

“Fundraising is a task that never stops, and despite numerous fundraising efforts and donations that are received on an ongoing basis, the need for more funds remains large,” comments Christo Valentyn, GM: Marketing at Kia South Africa. “Kia’s support has been in place since day one, and by working collaboratively with the Seven7 Drive’s passionate founders, we’re honoured to once again play a role in raising awareness about early detection of childhood cancer, spreading some cheer in oncology wards across the country, and raising funds for Cupcakes of Hope.”

Kia will this year provide three of its stylish, versatile and – importantly – fuel-efficient SUVs for the adventure: a Seltos 1.5 CRDi EX+, a Sportage 1.6 CRDi GT-Line Plus and a Sorento 2.2 CRDi SX. “Kia’s vehicles are globally renowned for quality and reliability, and our extensive range of diesel-engined SUVs are well proven for their frugality. We’re excited to provide three vehicles for the Seven7 Drive to demonstrate what our brand slogan, Movement that inspires, is all about,” adds Valentyn.

The Seven7 Drive organisers added a number of new fundraising initiatives to its programme in 2022 and will build on this in 2023. As South Africa celebrates Heritage Day on Sunday, September 24th, the 2023 Seven7 Drive will kick off with a gala dinner at Forti TOO restaurant in Pretoria. Renowned restauranteur, Fortunato Mazzone, is upping the ante this year by offering a four-course dining experience, including some exceptional wines and an enchanting opera performance by singers Bongi and Papi Musa. This dinner helped raise more than R50,000 for Cupcakes of Hope in 2022.

Renowned South African singer, Mathys Roets, will again champion a Kia to travel to the Eastern Cape hamlet of Rhodes to perform an intimate concert in aid of Cupcakes of Hope at the town’s well-known Walkerbouts Inn. In 2022, more than 50 guests attended, raising a total of R5,200 for Cupcakes of Hope in the process. Added to this year’s program is a second fundraising concert, where the much-loved Louise Carver will perform at the Karoo Art Hotel in Barrydale. The 2023 Seven7 Drive will conclude – as is tradition – at the Steve Biko Academic Hospital in Pretoria on Sunday, 1 October 2023.