Partner Profile — Tozamile
Cape Town — Along the outer rim of South Africa’s Langa Township is the campus of an old elementary school. Full of colors and faded classrooms, this former place of learning now hosts a coffee shop, a craft boutique, and the headquarters of iKhaya Le Langa, a social enterprise that promotes local ventures.
A mural on Langa’s art wall. Artist unknown.
The campus, gated off and boxed in by six-foot walls, is coated by paintings. Just outside the enclosure is the neighborhood’s famous “art wall”, a strip of concrete whose surface hosts the area’s annual mural competition. The historic township, created just prior to Apartheid, houses around 70,000 residents. Today, it is a haven for South African artists and musicians. Just inside these former school walls and nestled in a small, cluttered studio is one of the country’s best.
Tozamile is a 38-year-old South African with a lean physique and mild manners. He’s often found in his studio, standing in front of a battered easel or crouched on the ground, painting a canvass that stretches across the floor. His work is constantly evolving, varying from a more traditional style of South African artists, characterized by elongated, colorful animals and people—to a recent, innovative flair of abstract cubism and fauvist hues.
A collection of artwork by Tozamile.
Today, he’s an award winning painter, last year winning the township’s street art competition. But his rise to recognition has been quick. He began painting professionally just four years ago.
Originally from Port Elizabeth, Tozamile, or Toz as he’s known by many around Langa, made his way to Cape Town in 2003. Like many of his peers, Tozamile dropped out of high school, spurring him to find income however he could. Before his foray into art, he held numerous jobs to get by in an economy scant of formal work for young people (The youth unemployment rate in South Africa hovers around 50%).
These jobs varied from selling fruit and vegetables in the streets, to other stints, like buying and selling clothes. He soon settled on making and repairing shoes.
Although Tozamile had loved art in his youth, he never thought it could be a viable way to earn money. By 2016, he was still fixing shoes, selling clothes and crafting jewelry, but he felt unsatisfied.
That summer, he visited an open-air market in East London, a city in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province. Working among the stalls was a group of men from Malawi, selling their paintings. Toz approached them, and soon learned they were making even more money than he was, for work he knew he could do himself; perhaps better.
“So after the market, I bought painting materials and started painting. All my paintings I did sold and I never stopped from then…It means the future, so I'm very serious about my work.…I want to live my life as an artist.”
From that day on, he hasn’t looked back.
Tozamile giving visitors a tour of the township.
In addition to his art, Tozamile works in conjunction with iKhaya Le Langa, giving educational tours of the township. He hopes this work with tourism and foreign nationals will heighten the profile of his community, educating people on the area’s complex past and its artistic present.
This tourism, and the sales that often come with it, are Toz’s main source of income. As the residents of Langa, and many in South Africa, lack the discretionary income to spend on art, visitors are Tozamile’s best customers. Unfortunately, the coronavirus has decimated the local tourism economy in Cape Town, and with it, Tozamile’s lifeline as well.
“Covid has affected my business and life in many ways…. I'm struggling to maintain things, as I haven’t made any income since lockdown.”
And yet, he remains hopeful. "In life, I must say it’s not so bad. I had a chance to venture into some other things that I did not have a chance to explore as I was busy focusing on my art and tourism. I started doing gardening and reading books a lot.”
Toz in front of his award winning mural.
If this campaign for Via News is successful, part of each donation towards his affiliated award will pay Tozamile the normal rate for his work, and the person that donates will receive a unique piece by a coveted South African artist.
He says that if he is able to maintain his career in art, he will open an academy in Langa. For now, he continues to create and paint when he can. This campaign, with hope, will bring him closer to these goals.