Ensuring that I’m not the only one who benefits from my work is important to me. Painting the Johannesburg city skyline – especially with lipstick – struck me as inherently problematic because anyone who lives in here knows what goes on there – even if they’ve never ventured there. The Hillbrow tower marks the spot of one of the most dangerous parts of the city; it’s notorious for drugs, prostitution and crime.
So at the beginning of this year, I started looking for a suitable NGO to donate a portion of my earnings – and Home of Hope fit the bill. Khanyisile Motsa – affectionately known as Mam Khanyi – is the driving force between this organisation which focuses on assisting vulnerable girls in the inner city. I donate 10% of my earnings to Home of Hope, so that while I get to paint the most iconic feature of the city skyline, I also get to do some good.
Mam Khanyi does amazing work to make sure that not all the members of the so-called Lost Generation are lost. You can read more about her and her organisation here.
Here she is at my launch with Range Rover, telling the audience about the work she does. Some of her girls are doing very well at university, and she’s justifiably proud of them. They will all get to live very different lives from the future they faced when she first found them (or they found her) and that extraordinary power to make a difference – even to one individual – is something that inspires me every day.
