Graffiti is not just a suburban thing - and brought renown to some like “Dbongz” Mahlathi, who is from a township west of Johannesburg. “I was introverted and so it was my way of speaking,” he recalls. “I would go out at night and do illegal graffiti, but doing it was my dream. It was a way out of the township.” Dbongz started following his dreams when he was 18. Today, nearly 20 years later, he has moved from guerrilla graffiti to celebrated street artist. One of his most notable works downtown is a giant mural of the late jazz artist and anti-apartheid activist Miriam Makeba, who was known as "Mama Afrika".
Hunting the 'Big Five' on South Africa's walls
Updated: Oct 29
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