Tourists search for ‘Big Five’ on urban safari

“Today we’re looking for the Big Five!” South African guide Eelco Meyjes announces in front of his safari vehicle – which sounds strange on the streets of a Johannesburg suburb.

But he’s not talking about games, but the wildlife depicted in urban graffiti.

South Africa is notorious for its high crime rates and tall walls topped with electric fences, but there are many other aspects to South Africa’s beating heart of business – including the paint on the surface of those walls.

Mr Meyjes is a local entrepreneur who studied art at the city’s University of the Witwatersrand, which gave him an appreciation for the city’s dramatic street creations.

His first journey was on a two-wheeler. These activities continue, but in 2021 he expanded to include urban adventure activities.

As we set off from a local restaurant in a green safari vehicle, he cheerfully warns us: “You have to look carefully to find the animals painted on the walls.

“Inner city tours are more difficult than jungle tours. There is traffic everywhere. Of course, there are some potholes to avoid!

Our first stop saw a wild looking pink buffalo smoking a thick or joint smoke.

We discovered the first of the “Big Five” – ​​a term coined by big game hunters in the 19th century to refer to elephants, rhinos, buffalo, lions and leopards.

We continued on through the cool, crisp autumn air of Johannesburg.

Suburban gardens are still lush and green, and many walls have graffiti that a casual observer might miss.

A pink elephant (one of the Big Five) and a robot compete for attention with a giant lizard wearing red sneakers. Memorial walls were painted for those deceased graffiti writers.

We headed downtown where we met a graffiti artist named “Gazer”.

“I’ve been doing this for eight years,” he said as he worked.

“I started skateboarding and my friend was into graffiti. He taught me how to draw and then draw on the walls.”

“I mostly do commissions,” he explains, although it’s less formal.

“It’s usually safer during the day, but some places can only be visited at night.”

Gazer is an uncompromising artist.

“I enjoy it when people enjoy it, but some people don’t understand. It’s not for the public. It’s for personal expression. It’s all about the soul.

“Slegh,” also known as “Krinky Winky,” is another artist at the gallery who has responded to those who believe graffiti is destructive.

“All I did was put a millimeter of paint on the wall. So if you call it destruction, that’s your point,” he said.

“But there are a lot of things that blight communities, billboards, ads, company logos. Graffiti brings everyone together from different backgrounds and highlights political issues.

Graffiti doesn’t just exist in the suburbs, but has also brought fame to people like “Dbongz” Mahlathi, who hails from a town west of Johannesburg.

“I’m very introverted, so this is how I talk,” he recalled.

“I would go out at night and do illegal graffiti, but it was my dream to do it. It was a way out of town.

Dbongz started pursuing his dream when he was 18 years old.

One of his most famous works in the city center is a giant mural of the late jazz artist and anti-apartheid activist Miriam Makeba, known as “Mother Africa.”

“I was commissioned by the city to tell the story of South African jazz.

“Graffiti is protest culture and is often political, but street art is more narrative. I am living my dream and I hope the young people in town will see me as a role model and believe in their creative dreams.

Melissa Calucci, convener of the annual Cape Town International Public Art Festival, said Johannesburg “is a mecca for graffiti”.

“The culture there is more welcoming of using it to benefit the city.

“It has developed over the past 20 years and the level is now very good. Some artists have even gone overseas.”

We left the gallery, our car swerving to avoid a giant pothole, and then down a narrow alleyway that smelled of urine.

“This is where people practice,” Mr. Majors said.

“They help each other learn. It’s a brotherhood.

The highlight of the trip was a stunning set of panels painted on a building in central Johannesburg (see above).

“Work like this enhances the area. It revitalizes the whole street,” Mr Majors said.

The work is impressive. We sadly ended the trip despite not seeing all of the Big Five.

“Graffiti keeps growing,” our Graffiti City Safari guide said as we drove back.

“It is becoming a fashion statement for businesses. We have quite a few architects attending these visits, looking for ways to bring some life into buildings that need colour.

He turned and looked at me from the tour guide’s seat in the car: “We want to turn Joburg into the world’s largest graffiti park.”

Hamilton Bonaventure is a freelance journalist based in Johannesburg.