OBITUARY: VELAPHI MZIMBA
1959 - 2021

MZIMBA USED HIS BRUSH AND CANVAS TO RESTORE THE DIGNITY AND STATURE OF AFRICANS

By his first solo exhibition in 1981 at the Carlton Hotel, a gallery run by the South African Association of Arts, 22 year old Velaphi Mzimba, had found a voice to contribute to the struggle for a humane and equitable South Africa.

At the height of the struggle against apartheid when African people were essentially stripped of their humanity and their identity – Mzimba used his brush and canvas to restore their dignity and stature. There was a familiarity with his subjects who were inspired by his curiosity about the different African ethnic groups across the continent.

At the peak of his career in the 80’s and 90’s, when Africans were not allowed around the table beyond their township homes but ‘good enough’ to be the help like his mother Violet, who was a domestic worker in the suburbs and his father Peter who was a driver, Mzimba put them in these ‘hallowed’ spaces – the homes, boardrooms and hotels of the ‘oppressor’ who were enamored by them. While most of these collectors superficially saw the ‘artistry’ in the work, through the familiar eyes of an Mzimba portrait, which gazed at one in such a particular way that afterwards you feel as if you are being followed, seemed to emphasize that whatever was being done behind these walls was under a hawkish watch.

To the marginalized majority, there was a familiarity as if one had encountered the person before. They saw themselves in his work. Mzimba dared to challenge the oppressor and showed that Africans were human too. He restored their humanity – an gave them a face. He celebrated their identity, their deep melanin and way of life – dark, textured and colourful. In between, he would depict how they escaped the misery of oppression through music or went about their work in the midst of the oppression – in his celebrated work depicting the Zama Zama miners (illegal gold miners) and township life.

He would find objects that represent African lives – the discarded metal basin, shovel, doors, corrugated roofs, used clothing – anything – and bring them alive by juxtaposing or superimposing his work in his compositions. It was tangible and constant reminder of the African struggle. He would use his brush to make them larger than life, and subjects as seemingly mundane at face value as fruit or vegetables – an apple, orange, cabbage or beetroot - or bring all together in one of his familiar compositions.

A humble, quiet and relatable artist, this is how he took on the struggle for liberation against apartheid - through his work, which infused optimism, humanity and dignity. That is his legacy.

Born in Dube, Soweto on the 19th September 1959, Mzimba was the only boy and the 4th born child of the late Violet (neé Mabuza) and Peter Mzimba. He discovered his love of drawing at an early age and was encouraged by his father. He dropped out of school due to the 1976 uprising when the school was closed.

At the age of sixteen he joined Mofolo Arts Centre in Soweto where he learned drawing, oil painting and pastels with Dan Rakgoathe. years later he won a bursary to study at the Art Foundation under the late Bill Ainslie. An award-winning and revered artist across various media, he worked as a professional artist based in Johannesburg until his sudden death.

At the time of his passing, he was working on a seminal collection celebrating great African women with his longstanding gallerist Everard Read. Mzimba's work graces many public, corporate and private collections worldwide.

Mzimba passed on unexpectedly on 24 June due to Covid in the arms of his wife Boitumelo while waiting to be attended at hospital.

Mzimba is survived by his wife, Boitumelo, children – Tebogo “Tebs,” Lesedi, Khanyi, Siphesihle “Malobisa,” Seti and Fili, his siblings, Betty, Julia and Sbongile and the Mzimba Family.

Thebe Ikalafeng
Pan-African reputation architect, explorer and writer
@thebeikalafeng