My Scribes!

Meet Ofentse Mnguni – you do not know him yet… ( PART 2 – DRAWING) CLICK HERE to read PART 1 if you missed it! “This journey for me started at the tender age of 5 and the interest and passion was fueled by my then mentor, my cousin Mpilonhle Joka, who I now consider a ‘part-time’ visual artist. For her this was a way to kill time but this ignited a whole new world of possibilities for me,” says Fefe whose upbringing tells a similar story to that of most kasi teenagers growing up within lower LSM families and community. His love of art and illustrations bloomed when he avidly started watching *Dragon Ball Z* on one of the SABC channels back in his primary schooling days. He would ensure that his chores and schoolwork were done well in time before Dragon Ball Z was on TV – thanks to his photogenic memory; he would be able to draw some of the cartoon characters soon thereafter. They did not have pay TV at home but seldom visits to his aunts’ homes open...

Meet Ofentse Mnguni – you do not know him yet… ( PART 1 – INTRO ) Mzansi is embattled with economic unrest; social ills etc. and most of us predict a grim future ahead. Yet this is not the case for a teenager who clearly has his future drawn out on a canvas with a glimmer of hope - he sees a successful, happy and fulfilling life ahead of him. From Kwa-Thema, in Ekurhuleni (east of Jozi), Ofentse Mnguni is a teenager and a learner at local Secondary School who is passionate about visual arts. Naturally, he comes from a pool of talented cousins – there’s an avid soccer player and an endearing rugby player in the midst, all bound together by their now late number one fan who was solidly anchored at the center of their lives – their grandfather. They all have one thing in common – God first! A brief chat with his mother also reveals that he is the apple of her eyes; she affectionately calls him ‘Fefe’ and supports his drawing passion accompanied with best wishes...