Mgadi after-school ​art studio 

Moving to Cape Town in 1987 from a little village near Willowville in Eastern Cape, Mgadi struggled to find stable and permanent employment.

He chose to attend an art class in 2000, despite being short of funds to purchase the necessary paint & canvas  required.

Battling on and wishing to show what the environment in the huge township of Khayelitsha looked like to his mother living in the tiny village back in Eastern Cape, he came up with the idea of using recycled material - cardboard, wood, paper, cans and sand  -  to create 3D scenes of the township. He went to the post office to package the parcel to be sent to the Eastern Cape. When he took it to the postmaster, he offered to purchase the artwork from him... and that is how the 3D shack picture was born.
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Almost instantly, his technique attracted attention,  leading other artists to copy his work - some of which you may now find for sale in shops and stands around Cape Town. ​
Mgadi's latest inspiration shows the narrow view from Nelson Mandela's cell on Robben Island.

Besides the craft center in Khayelitsha, his artwork is displayed in art galleries around Cape Town. 
Mgadi's newest project is to share his talent with school children in a modest, but well structured and funded after-school art class for kids aged 7 to 15, giving them the opportunity to learn a craft whilst keeping them safely off the streets.​

​ACT stepped in to guarantee the rent for the facility as well as to purchase the essentials for the classes to take place.