I was born at Inanda KwaBesta 40km north of Durban. I was raised by a single mother,
Thembi Ndlovu, in a family of five children, four girls and
one boy: I am the last born. All I know about my father, Phindela Zulu, is that he lived in Nkandla and
worked at Shell and BP.
My mother was very creative. She sewed her own
clothes even her wedding dress. She took my older sister and myself to
live with her friend, Mr. Eddie Meth, the owner of PiscesSwimming Academy in Sydenham. Mr Meth put us through Primary School. I schooled at Charles Hugo in Sydenham from grade 0 to grade 4, then moved
back to Inanda. At Inanda I attended a school called Ikusasalentsha, I studied there for 2 years, grades
5
and
6. It was during the time I received the
news of my mother's death, it was shocking news even though she was sick for a
very long time, my mom was
buried at a farm in Ndwedwe.
I left school for a
while; my aunt got me back to a
school called Buhlebethu P.P School were I completed graded 6
and 7; this is were I discovered my talent and love for
sketching. In 2005 at Buhlebethu P.P school
was receiving a visit by the Honourable M E C Prof. Gabriel Ndabandaba. Several learners were chosen to draw a
portrait of the M EC and I was not a part of those learners because my talent
was unknown to everyone. A teacher
named Miss Mthiyane spotted my
drawing
- a portrait of Jesus and she asked me
to draw the M E C and my portrait was the best and was presented to Prof. Ndabandaba. He was so impressed he asked for my
details. I received the good news
that Prof Ndabandaba was going to help me with school
requirements. Once I chose my high
school, J G Zuma High, I
contacted Prof. Ndabandaba who arranged to meet me at Gem School wear with my former teacher,
Mrs. Nana Ndlovu, from Buhlebethu P P School. Professor Ndabandaba bought everything I needed. I was treated like a VIP on that day and I
had a coffee with Mr Pandor the
owner of Gem school wear and we all walked with bodyguards.
Mr Eddie Meth was
very surprised to hear about my artistic talents and he arranged for me to join
the Saturday morning arts classes at
the Durban Art Gallery; he paid for my art classes and all
my expensive equipment. He is like
father to me. He taught me to swim when I was a
little kid and he always looked after me when ever I needed help. I always turn to him for bus-fare and for
excursions.
Mrs Nana Ndlovu contacted the eThekwini Municipality to help me and they introduced
me to Lungelo Gumede, the artist who has a studio at the BAT Centre where I met other artists who had a
hand in my artistic career. In 2007
I decided to put up a stand at the Phoenix Plaza Center. I was so naive that I did not ask for permission and I was chased away by Security
Officers; but I
went back and asked the Plaza Management for a
small space and they put me
in the center where I did well in my
school holidays. In 2008 I decided
to move to a bigger center I spoke to the Marketing Manager of the Musgrave Center, Mr. Vinay Panday, who invited me to display
my artwork on the exhibition at the Center. The exhibition was arranged for
professional artists such as Steve Mandy, Isaac Sithole, Robert Bolter as well
as Claude Chandler. The show was
great and it was where I met Steve Mandy who helped me with art lessons. In 2010 I was included in working on the Prosperity murals - it was a lot of fun working with many
artists.
My work was included
in the Izikhwephezethu exhibition held in 2010 at the Durban Art Gallery. The opening of that exhibition was
great.
