Enock Ngwenya

Enock was born at Mvangatini Trust near Kabokweni on June 6, 1966. He began his schooling at Mvangatini, later attending Malekutu School and Khumbula Secondary School. He had his first child in Standard nine and later married in 1989. Enock has four children.

At age eight Enock began making his own toys such as cars, tractors, buses, bakkies, beetles and motorbikes from wire and tin as well as the more traditional clay. During his time at school however, he found that he no longer had the time to create his sculptural playthings due to his pressing studies.

When his first child asked Enock to buy him a car, Enock replied: “No, I’ll make you a car”. The community’s children soon gathered round as they too needed cars! His oldest son is currently attending grade twelve, plays soccer and loves to draw and paint. He currently supports himself, like his father, with his own wire work.

Enock began exploring other items in wire – bird cages, chickens and even objects from drawings. He began to create and investigate alternative and unusual products, such as chairs, with which he has pushed the technical boundries of wire as a medium. Nowadays Enock has sold his unique and progressive wire merchandise as far afield as Australia.

Information courtesy of the artist