Tool of terror turned into art

One of the most recognisable symbols of oppression in the kasi is the infamous Casspir police truck. This vehicle carried apartheid police officers to quell the rage of the liberation struggle. Now, street artist and movie director (Kite, Jerusalema) Afrika 47 has acquired one of these relics of oppression and transformed it into art.

Ralph Ziman, as he is known outside the street art community, says he was driven by “a desire to confront our past. To reclaim the Casspir. To own it; to Africanise it.”

He could not pull this off on his own, and roped in skilled bead and wire workers to help him bring this concept to life.