Mthombeni uses art to take kids off the streets

Thabo Mthombeni and Martin Umami dedicated their weekends to helping the residents of Riverside View through their initiative named Riverside View Arts. Initially, their goal was to equip young people aged between 13 and 30 with valuable skills to enhance their employability in the job market.

However, they had to put the idea on hold and redirect their energy to the children due to a lack of resources. Mthombeni said this is mainly because they were affected by a number of issues such as electricity because one of the skills they train people in is welding.

“We were just chilling when the idea popped. I was hanging out with Martin who is a well-known local artist. We first met in 2019 but because we did not have the resources to start, it was just an idea. For us to come up with this initiative, we looked around us and saw that a lot of people indulge in negative activities and in full view of the children because they do not have elsewhere to play.

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“There is no way that you will come to this place and not find people drinking and smoking. So, we wanted to keep these children out of this. Remember, every little footprint counts, so we want them to follow in the right footsteps. If we do not shape the young ones, who is going to do it for us? We stay here with these kids.”

He said that is how they ended up reaching out to Godfrey Senthumule, the CLO (Community Liaison Officer) Of the Riverside community and he was able to understand our vision.

“We needed him because this is not our place. We had to seek permission to utilise it. He did come and check us out and he was happy with us.”

Patricia van Zyl and Carmel Ives joined Mthombeni and his friend in putting words to action. They mainly came through with materials to paint and also food for the children while they are busy challenging their creativity.

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“It is a lot of us and we use different things because we have a lot of different mediums. You can tell that these kids are very happy. It is only today that we are few but we usually do exceed this number.”

Mthombeni said his dreams are to take this initiative from Fourways to other parts of South Africa. He said they chose to use art as a way to shield children from the affects of social ills.

“Art is a very powerful weapon against social issues. So if these kids are able to express themselves and enjoy what they do while getting a few skills, then it will be easier for them to make the right decisions that will benefit them in future.”

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