History of MMA Platinum

With Eight years behind us, “Platinum” continues its comradeship, unity and growth policy with a membership of 62 MOTH bikers. The Platinum chapter staged a monster 5th Birthday Bash on the 6th February 2016 which it is said “has set the standard” in motorcycle events, and was held in true festive MOTH fashion with good food, awesome music with some of the best singers and bands in the country, certainly a day to remember with fun for all, and even a MOTH recruiting desk which yielded three new MOTH prospects. Today we have members from Randfontein in the West to Phalaborwa in the East, Polokwane in the North and Vereeniging in the South. Spread over a Provincial Dugout area known as Platinum Province which includes Gauteng, Mpumalanga and Limpopo, as well as Northern and North Western Provinces, we are divided into 7 districts, namely; Coalfields, East Rand, Lowveld, Pretoria, South Eastern Transvaal, West Rand and the newly formed Westvaal which straddles the Vaal river from Vereeniging to Stilfontein – a unique setup where the Freestate/Northern Cape and Platinum provinces share members.

With the growth in numbers across the region, the MMA – Platinum took a bold decision in 2014 to split the Province into smaller, locally managed chapters; and so the West Rand, Pretoria and Coalfields Chapters were born, with Southern Gauteng and Westvaal being added in 2015. In July 2016 with the amalgamation of the two MOTH district of West Rand and Southern Gauteng Dugouts, the Southern Gauteng chapter was absorbed into the West Rand to form the West Rand South Region. The Platinum MMA structure now operates with each District as a committee of the Platinum MMA Province. 2016 also saw the birth of the new KZN Provincial chapter inaugurated on the 27th February under the watchful eye of the Southern KZN Provincial chapter which was set up by the Platinum Chapter. This was a highlight in the year for the Platinum chapter executive committee who were given the honour of conducting the installation ceremony. Soon after, in 2018 the new Phalaborwa Chapter was introduced to the growing list of Platinum District Chapters

As we move towards the 2021/22 MOTH year having weathered the year of the virus, a plan to restructure the Platinum region is underway which will give rise to a new Mpumalanga Provincial chapter controlling the Coalfields, and newly inaugurated Lowveld chapter. With the foregoing restructuring will come the creation of the new Gauteng Provincial Chapter which will have control over the local chapters of Pretoria, West Rand, East Rand, and the newly formed Vaal Triangle and Joburg chapters.

The Platinum chapters have remained resolute in their marketing of the Association and the MOTH in general through their support of long distant runs across the entire region with regulation visits to as many Shellholes as possible en-route, and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Plans are also in motion to host the Sunflower (DKMS) Fund’s “Ride for Hope” event in October 2021 (COVID permitting), which will be the 8th of its kind run by the Platinum Provincial chapter.

With the 11th AGM to be held in July 2021, the MMA – Platinum has notable milestones to its name, among them the introduction of the Friends of the MMA for non-Moths and pillion riders with their own unique patch now numbering 32 members from as far afield as Harare in Zimbabwe, 53+ new Moths inducted into the order, and a strong membership base committed to the vision: Comradeship, Unity and Growth.