Jumpin’ Johannesburg: Soweto’s Afropunk skaters! – in pictures

From beer rituals to (literally) electrifying punk shows, Karabo Mooki’s images capture the counterculture of one South African township

Main image: Flipping heck … Karabo Mooki’s Fatherless Kids, Dube, Soweto, 2016

  • Live and Let Live, 2016

    Karabo Mooki’s series Dogg Pound Days documents the growth of skateboarding and Afropunk countercultures in Soweto, a township on the outskirts of Johannesburg where Mooki grew up. Of this image, Mooki says: ‘In true punk rock style, Thula “Stroof” Sizwe – guitarist of TCIYF – continues to perform after being electrocuted by a short-circuited fuse.’ You can visit the online show of Dogg Pound Days here. All photographs: Karabo Mooki
    Thula “Stroof” Sizwe lies back on a couch and plays his guitar

  • Skate or Die, Dube, Soweto, 2016

    Affiliates of the Skate Society Soweto turn up in droves to support local punk shows
    A man balancing a skateboard

  • Fatherless Kids, Dube, Soweto, 2016

    Karabo Mooki: ‘There is a growing community of skateboarders in Soweto, encouraged by the community of punk rockers. The Soweto Skate Society and TCIYF have been a driving force for creating safer spaces for Black youth’
    A street scene of skaters in Soweto

  • Unified, Rockville, Soweto, 2016

    Karabo Mooki: ‘Members of Free x Money are joined on the mic by TCIYF’s Thula “Stroof” Sizwe. TCIYF have realised that since the shows don’t come to them, they need to bring the shows to the township, bridging communities and giving birth to a cross-pollination of talents beyond racial and economic borders’
    Three men getting close on the microphone

  • The Kids Are Alright, Rockville, Soweto, 2018

    Curious kids from the neighbourhood try to get a glimpse of a punk show
    Young men looking through a gap in the side of a tent.

  • Storm in a Teacup, Rockville, Soweto, 2016

    TCIYF frontman, Puleng Seloane, ramps up the energy
    Puleng Seloane sings into a mic on a sunny day with onlookers watching

  • Drifting, Dube, Soweto, 2016

    Karabo Mooki: ‘Making do with what they could afford is how the band used to live. TCIYF has come a long way from recording songs on their smartphones. The sounds of Stroof’s soulful blues and rock’n’roll reverberate out from the garage on a Sunday afternoon at the Dogg Pound’
    A man wields a guitar

  • In Crust We Trust, Soweto, 2016

    ‘Searching for street spots to skate in Soweto is challenging, both physically due to the lack of infrastructure and attitudinally due to the general population’s misperception of skate culture as one that is destructive and dangerous. The Soweto Skate Society have made it their mission to shatter the belief that skateboarding culture can only exist in spaces outside of the township’
    A group of skaters travel down a road

  • An Ode to the Gods, Rockville, Soweto, 2016

    Karabo Mooki: ‘Puleng sends a message, proclaiming “we gotta pay respect to the gods of beer and punk” in a TCIYF post-performance ritual’
    A man looks away from the camera while emptying two bottles of beer on to the floor

  • Shameless, Johannesburg, 2024

    ‘Musa Zwane from the band Shameless blows audiences away with his unique sound, combining Afro-rock with traditional Zulu music. It’s impossible for audiences not to want to dance, sing and mosh’
    Guitarist Musa Zwane closes his eyes and opens his moyth wide as he plays surrounded by audience members enjoying themselves

  • Punk Rocking Against Power Outages, Rockville, Soweto, 2024

    ‘Abdula Skink, frontman of Twenty One Children, celebrates the band’s birthday, body slamming and rolling around in the red dust amongst stomping boots. Government-issued load shedding or power outages leave large parts of South Africa in darkness for hours and interrupt gigs, but as the blackout ends, the band seize the opportunity to send shockwaves through Soweto’
    Abdula Skink, frontman of Twenty One Children, lies on the floor, his legs in the air

  • The Right to Love, Johannesburg, 2024

    ‘The freedom to love beyond racial restrictions, in a post-apartheid South Africa, is celebrated among the youth here’
    A black man embraces a white woman

  • Social Consonance, Johannesburg, 2024

    ‘Since Covid-19 there has been a resurgence of Black punk rock communities. Members of the band Twenty One Children have reignited a new wave of punk rock, providing a bridge from the township of Soweto into the inner city of Johannesburg. The energy is contagious and Soweto’s rock revolution is spreading’
    A full room of people on the punk scene, including one man who is crowdsurfing
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