Tourists hunt the ‘Big Five’ on an urban safari

“Today we’re going in search of the ‘Big Five!’” South African guide Eelco Meyjes announced from the front of his safari vehicle – an odd thing to hear on the streets of suburban Johannesburg.

But he wasn’t talking about the game but about the wildlife depicted in the city’s graffiti.

Notorious for its crime levels and high walls with electric fences, there are many other sides to South Africa’s pulsating commercial hub – including what’s painted on the surface of those walls.

Mr Meyjes, a local businessman, studied art at the city’s University of the Witwatersrand and this gave him an appreciation for its impressive street creations.

His first trip started on two wheels. These continue but he has expanded to urban safaris in 2021.

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

“Making trips in the inner city is more difficult than going in the forest. There is traffic everywhere. And of course there are potholes to avoid!”

Our first stop was a wild-looking pink buffalo smoking a thick cigarette or perhaps a joint.

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

We drove through the cool, crisp autumn air of Johannesburg.

The suburban gardens are still green and there is plenty of graffiti on the walls that the casual observer might miss.

A pink elephant, another of the Big Five, and a robot compete for attention with a giant lizard wearing red sneakers. A tribute wall was painted for deceased graffiti writers.

We went 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 loved drawing graffiti. He taught me how to draw and then painted on the wall.”

“Mostly I take commissions,” he explains, although it’s not all formal.

“Usually it’s safer during the day, but there are some places you can only go at night.”

Gazer is an uncompromising artist.

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

“Slegh,” also known as “Krinky Winky,” is another artist at the gallery who hits back at those who say graffiti is vandalism.

“All I’m doing is applying a millimeter of paint to the wall. So if you call it destruction then that’s your perspective,” he said.

“But there are so many things that destroy neighborhoods, billboards, corporate signs. Graffiti brings people together from diverse backgrounds and highlights political issues.”

Graffiti isn’t just a suburban thing – and has brought fame to some like “Dbongz” Mahlathi, who hails from a township west of Johannesburg.

“I’m an introvert so that’s how I talk,” he recalls.

“I often go out at night and do illegal graffiti, but that’s my dream. It was an escape from town.”

Dbongz started pursuing his dream when he was 18 years old. Today, nearly 20 years later, he has transitioned from guerrilla graffiti artist to famous street artist.

One of his most notable works downtown is a giant mural of the late jazz artist and anti-apartheid activist Miriam Makeba, who was known as “Mama Afrika”.

“I was given this mandate by the city to tell the story of South African jazz.

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

Melissa Calucci, who organizes the annual Cape Town International Public Art Festival, says that Johannesburg “is the mecca of graffiti art”.

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

“In the last 20 years it has grown and now the level is very good – some artists have even gone abroad.”

We left the showroom, our car swerved to avoid a large pothole and drove down a narrow alley that reeked of urine.

“This is where everyone practices,” Mr. Meyjes said.

“They help each other learn. That’s brotherhood.”

The highlight of the tour is an astonishing set of giant paintings painted on a building in downtown Johannesburg (see above).

“Work like this will elevate the area. It rejuvenates the entire street,” Mr. Meyjes said.

The work is impressive. And we were sad to end the tour, even though we hadn’t seen all of the Big Five.

“Graffiti is constantly evolving,” our Graffiti Urban Safari guide said as we drove back.

“It is becoming a fashion statement for businesses. We invited quite a few architects on these tours, looking to bring life to a building that needed a little color.”

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

Hamilton Wende is a freelance journalist based in Johannesburg.