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When Themba Mkhangeli first started drawing, his family were unimpressed by his interest in art, but these days his designs are getting noticed across the country.
Themba (28) was commissioned by the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) and the South African Mint to design the new R2 and 50c coins.
"I got an email from one of the members of South African Reserve Bank telling me that they have an interest in me being one of the artists to redesign the upgraded South African coins. I accepted the opportunity with both hands," Themba tells YOU.
The new coins were announced in August 2022, when the cabinet greenlit the new dimension, design and composition of the coins.
The SARB revealed the new coin designs in May this year and and now the coins as well as new notes are in circulation around the country.
"The overall theme was ecology, and for the R2, the animal inspiration was a springbok," Themba says.
To others it might just look like a springbok lamb and its mother, but for Themba it represents something deeper.
"I used a female springbok and a baby because I'm inspired by single parents, as my mother was one and it's a big issue in our country. My work generally is inspired by nature."
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The 28-year-old is a self-taught artist who first began drawing with ballpoint pens.
All artists have a distinctive style; and Themba is no exception. His startlingly expressive signature portraits were created entirely with ballpoint pens.
It’s been a long journey for a young man who grew up not knowing you could make a living out of something such as art – and ballpoint pen art at that.
He was born in Nyanga, Cape Town, one of five kids to single mom Busisiwe. He moved to Mthatha in the Eastern Cape when he was four to live with his grandmother, Nolindile, and returned to the Mother City when he was in Grade 7.
It was when he was a pupil at Linge Primary School in Nyanga that he discovered his passion for drawing.
“My brother, Thabile, also loved drawing and I always wanted to beat him at it. Most people were on my side, though,” he says with a laugh.
In his free time young Themba wanted to do nothing more than draw, but because his late mom couldn’t afford coloured pencils he used a pen. In high school his teachers urged him to do something with his talent, he says.
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“Teachers would ask me why I wasn’t in art school but I didn’t even know the meaning of ‘art’, I just liked drawing.”
He matriculated at New Eisleben High School in Crossroads in 2013 and studied industrial design at Cape Peninsula University of Technology.
In September 2016, while walking in Cape Town’s city centre, he saw a billboard outside Artscape Theatre Centre advertising an upcoming exhibition.
He contacted the curator of the exhibition, South African artist Hugo de Villiers, and asked if he could showcase some of his work.
Hugo agreed and Themba’s work was publicly exhibited for the first time.
“When I was young, we used to play with insects and kill them. But as I grew older I learnt the importance of insects and how they form part of our lives. I now try to include them in my work.”
His favourite insect, he says, is the bee, as it holds significance in his culture. It’s a Xhosa belief that bees are connected to the ancestors, and “in our tradition, bees are part of our family. Funnily enough, that’s the insect I used to kill the most!”
The Capetonian has gone on to win several competitions over the years, including the Sanlam Portrait award and the Vuleka visual arts competition, where two of his works were selected as finalists, and he's had a solo exhibition.
This year he took home the Ryno Swart Drawing Medal for best drawing at Rust-en-Vrede Gallery.
While he’s the guy behind the design of the coins South Africans use every day, Themba says he still has big dreams and feels he’s a “young and up-and-coming artist”.
“My personal goal is to excel in all the aspects of art and to be recognised as a serious artist in the future,” Themba says.
“My ambition is to be represented in public, corporate and private galleries all over the world. I plan to do art for a living since I believe that art is life.”
